A Second Chance
by Neo1708
Summary: Saved from an otherwise grim fate when a mission went awry, I now find myself in a new world where magic - real magic - exists. This world is called "Earthland". As of now, I have two objectives: reassemble Fireteam Indigo, and find a guild known as "Fairy Tail". This is S-IV Jai Mathers, signing off.
1. Out of the Frying Pan

[Last updated: 06/10/18]

"We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still.

We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean;

We are ready at long last to set sail for the stars."

CARL SAGAN

"Damn it all to hell." I had to duck under cover of the wrecked warthog before me to dodge an oncoming plasma round. I broke cover to return a few shots before I had to duck back again when a rapid volley of bright pink plasma fire came my way again. I sighed and took stock of the situation behind me.

Located behind me in the dilapidated ruins of what appeared to once have been a bike shop were the other four members of my team. Indigos Three and Five were down; Three was confirmed deceased from a headshot, and Five was critically wounded. Five's wounds had been treated with biofoam, but were still bleeding heavily; he wouldn't make it, there was just too much blood loss. Two was nearby with a medical kit doing what she could for Five, and Four was on the other side of the shop keeping watch and trying to hail someone for help over the shortwave radio on the E-band. So far, nothing.

Five started coughing violently and hacked up a red blob into his hand; the side of his mouth had a small stream of crimson, and his teeth were stained with blood. He beckoned me over with a hand. I returned fire and crawled the few feet to him. He swallowed the best he could and asked in a raspy, hollow sounding voice, "Jai. Are they going to pick us up sometime this century or what?" I looked down at the doomed man before me and held his other hand; I broke decorum and responded, "Yeah, Jack. They're coming for us; just hang in there, alright?" He nodded and groaned in pain as he laid back down.

I crawled back to my previous positon and grimaced. They weren't coming for us, _no one was_. Our long range communications equipment had taken a direct hit from a plasma round; as far as anyone else on the _Infinity_ knew, our mission was going swimmingly as per our last scheduled update. I broke cover once more to return fire as I reflected on what had brought us to this damned half-glassed mud ball in the middle of nowhere.

Fireteam Indigo was sent to this planet – itself a remote half-glassed mud ball on the outskirts of one of the old colonial systems – because some covert ONI agents embedded in the area reported unusual comms activity on one of the glassed colonies; presumably Insurrectionist in origin. We were sent in to investigate. Before we left, I had joked with captain Lasky that we'd make a milk run since we were in the area. Pick up a few eggs, blow up a building or two, shoot some baddies, the whole bit. He laughed. If only it were that easy.

The good news was that once we got there, we wouldn't have to hoof it the whole way; the pelican that had dropped us off had a warthog. Indigo as a whole silently cheered when we found that out. Now, since any communication equipment – along with pretty much anything else – that had been here before the Covenant came were long since destroyed (Obviously), they had seen fit to give us long range communications gear, which we kept hooked up to the warthog. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best idea, but it seemed sensible at the time – the idea being to keep it close and such. We got ready and headed out.

Well, long boring story short, we eventually found a partially glassed warehouse and confirmed that it was chock-full of alien weapons and vehicles, with what looked like very recent signs of human habitation. We covertly infiltrated the building, planted the charges, and blew the building sky-high; so far so good. Too good. What was that old phrase again? "Out of the frying pan and into the shit"? Hmm … perhaps that's not it, but fuck it; it fits. It was around then that the plan took a nose-dive because we soon had Insurrectionist controlled Covenant air and ground forces moving against us. It was an ambush; it seems they weren't too keen on losing much of their inventory, and were looking for payback.

Obviously, we bugged out of there as fast as we could. We didn't make it far.

They found us in the ruins of a melted, blasted cityscape by way of dropship. Indigo Three's visor exploded out as she took a headshot. That would be bad enough as is … but the thing was, she was driving. Our warthog careened out of control at top speed into the front of an old two story building; it was a mess as its upper story had long since collapsed. This newest event its history didn't help anything. The smoke cleared and we found Indigo Five impaled in his upper torso on a broken pipe; it went cleanly through both his shields and his armor. We set up a defensive line by repositioning the now wrecked warthog in front of the hole as five's wounds were being seen to.

A dropship came down with a Wraith, and dropped it as well a number of Insurrectionists and flew off. I ran to and boarded the oncoming Wraith, dodging plasma fire from the gunner, left a little present in the cockpit and jumped off. The enemy tank's cockpit exploded and it veered around wildly before it went careening into a nearby storefront before exploding in a bright flash of purple-white light.

All of a sudden, Four yelled triumphantly, "I've got a live one!" I ran back into cover and looked over to him with surprise, and more than a glint of hope in my eyes; I didn't think there were any other friendly teams on the planet. "Patch me through." He nodded and after a moment gave me a hand gesture signaling me to proceed. I heard a female voice on the other side say, "Unidentified Spartan team, this is Recon One. You have multiple hostiles in your vicinity, and more on their way. I suggest you bug out as fast as you can." I grimaced and responded, "This is Indigo One actual, negative on the bug out, Recon One. We have deceased and injured. As much as we would _like_ to bug out, our only means of transportation have been disabled along with our long range comms." I heard a frustrated sigh that I could identify with all too well. "I see. I will call in the cavalry as soon as I can. Dig in and last as long as you can, Spartan. We'll be there asap. Recon One out." She didn't even give me time to ask what "backup" meant.

I asked Four what he thought that meant, he shrugged. "Can't say. She was pretty vague on the whole thing, wasn't she? Do you think it could be …" Four wouldn't get to finish his sentence. Suddenly, I heard the distinctive sound of a second wraith firing from somewhere nearby. A half second later, a ball of plasma landed on the shop before it exploded, throwing me bodily into the side of the warthog. The agonized screams of my team were all I heard before I blacked out.

I don't know how long I was out for; the next thing I knew, I was sitting up through the wreckage and ash that had piled on top of me. I slowly stood up on unsteady legs, leaning on what was left of the warthog for support. I wiped the ash off of my visor and went to call out to my team; what I saw made me take a short breath as my stomach bottomed out. Before me was the burning wreckage of what was left of the building with what remained of my now former comrades inside. I couldn't believe it; how could fate keep being so cruel to me? "No … Not again; please … not again." I felt bile rise in my throat, threatening to come out at the sight. I looked up and saw a massive Slipspace portal open far above me and a large, very distinctive ship made the transition. I couldn't believe my eyes.

A comm channel opened up to the side of my HUD, "Fireteam Indigo, do you read? This is the UNSC destroyer _Javelin's Thrust_ responding to your emergency, please respond, over." A destroyer; they sent in an _entire_ destroyer? A few seconds later I saw two additional smaller (Relative to the destroyer) Slipspace ruptures form and a few light frigates made the transition; the destroyers' escorts. I cleared my throat and pressed the correct button on the inside of my helmet with my chin to respond. I identified myself and was connected to the ship's captain, "Is this fireteam leader?" I responded and briefly explained what had happened. "I'm sorry to hear what you just went through, son. We'll take care of this now. I'm sending a pelican down to pick you and the remains of your team up. Get some rest, if you can, you've earned it. You've had one hell of a bad day."

I was brought back to the ship and seen to medically and psychologically. Thankfully, the process was short – although "short" in this context is highly subjective. However after I was transferred over to the recovery area of the ship's medbay, I was visited by the ship's captain who introduced himself as Spacely. I greeted him with the best salute I could. He smiled and waved a hand dismissively, "You can dispense with the formalities, Jai. I'm making my rounds and just came by to see how you're doing, is all." We talked for a small while before I asked him about the recon team I talked with down on the planet, as I hadn't expected on running into friendlies out so far. He took a long sigh and replied, "We were unavoidably called away not too long ago, but a few weeks ago while passing through this system, we intercepted some strange communications and closed in to investigate. Since then, we've been enacting guerrilla warfare against the local Insurrectionists here. We weren't – and still aren't – able to just wipe them off the map because we're running low on supplies." He cleared his throat before continuing, "However, we've since run this up the chain of command and reinforcements arrived about a day ago. As for the aforementioned hostiles, they have been dealt with, and the last of the mopping up operations were carried out a few hours ago." He looked at the digital clock inlaid into the wall, "Well … I suppose I've eaten up enough of your recovery time, Spartan. I have some other matters I need to see to." I nodded, "Very well, sir." He got up and started walking to the door before he stopped and turned his head to look at me, "Oh, and one more thing. Once you're feeling up to it, you're all set to go back to the _Infinity_ , just let me know. I've already talked to captain Lasky, so there's no rush. Take as much time as you need to heal." He paused slightly, and continued in a gentler voice, "Once there, I assume you will start by building yourself a new team." He walked over to the doorway, placed a hand on it and said, "Good luck. The room is yours, Spartan." He then left me to my thoughts.

 **[So … how was it? I've been tinkering with this chapter for awhile, trying to figure out the best way to start the story, and this is what I came up with.]**


	2. Homecoming

[Last updated: 06/10/18]

It's about time! After about a year on this ship, I finally received some shore leave. I knew just where I wanted to go. I arranged transport aboard the nearest ship that was heading to Earth; it was an old colony ship retrofitted into a merchant vessel, dubbed the UNSC _Pretty Penny_. After a few days of being in Slipspace, we jumped back into normal space about 10 Au from Sol.

We docked at the Quito orbital tether and I walked around the platform as it descended through the super rings – I eventually found a view I liked of the rapidly growing landscape around me and stayed there until I got to the surface; once there, I caught an automated shuttle to the New Phoenix suburbs. I was going to go see the only family I had left: my grandparents and my little brother. I had already called ahead of time; they knew I was coming. I dug a credit chip out of one of my pockets and paid the toll before I grabbed my standard issue duffel bag and threw it over my back and made my way towards the front door.

Before I could get close though, it burst open and a small form came at me and hugged me around the middle; my little brother. I ruffled his dark hair and greeted him. "He-ey squirt! How've you been?" The only thing I could understand from him was that Grandma had just set down dinner and she and Grandpa were waiting for us; he was excitedly talking a mile a minute. I let him pull me inside with a grin across my face before he ran off to his seat. I greeted my grandparents, and just as I was sitting down, my Grandmother gasped and said that she had forgotten dessert in the refrigerator. I smiled warmly and said, "No problem, I'll get it." I went into the kitchen and retrieved it from the fridge. The next thing I knew, there was a blinding flash of red, the sounds of my family screaming, accompanied some manner of searing sound. I instantly dropped the dessert and rushed back into the dining room. The only things I found were a room devoid of family, a thick cloud of ash everywhere in the room, and an overpowering stench of fear in the air. Not even their clothes remained.

I panicked and rushed outside and ran down a few streets; everywhere I went there was that _overwhelming_ smell of ash … there wasn't any living thing left within sight – people … dogs … anything. It was suddenly perfectly silent … in a city of over six million; all except for me. _It seems like the entire population of the city just up and turned to ash when my back was turned._

I looked around myself and fell to my knees in despair; I began to scream to the heavens as I beat my fists into the pavement. I felt my cheeks burn as hot streams of tears ran down them. I gritted my teeth in anger. It wasn't fair. IT JUST WASN'T FAIR! I wanted them back; everything else had been taken from me … _everyone_. I screamed louder and louder for someone … _anyone ..._ I screamed myself ragged. I began to hear something sounding like a doorbell … it got louder and **louder** …

I woke up with a start in a cold sweat. I was, of course, in my bunk in S deck aboard the UNSC _Infinity_ with a concerned intangible orange person kneeling on the ground at the edge of my bunk, focused solely on me; it was the ships' AI, Roland. (He was sarcastic and a bit of a prick at times, but he had his moments) He wore a World War II era pilot's garb: fur lined leather flight jacket, flight goggles, leather pants … the works.

"Are you ok, Spartan? I detected elevated vital signs in your quarters, and an alarming amount of … screaming." I was quite out of breath from the exertion and it took me a moment to get the air necessary to respond, and when I did, it only came out in a halting rasp. "I'm sorry to worry you, Roland. I was just having one _hell_ of a nightmare." He grimaced slightly and nodded in sympathy; it seemed even he had a heart buried somewhere in his code. "New Phoenix?" I looked down and nodded before I began to rub the sleep from my eyes. "Yeah." He wore a reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry, I've already notified medical personnel and they should be – ah, here they are now." He turned his head towards the door where a doctor and a psychologist were just coming in. Before he left, he looked at me and said, "Captain Lasky wants you prepped and mission ready, but I'll request some time for you to recover. You have an urgent mission in one hour." I looked up in surprise. "An _hour_!? I thought I wasn't due for another mission for another day or so!" He stopped, turned his head and observed me with a raised eyebrow, "Simply put, plans have changed. Once you're ready, you and your team will be briefed of the mission en route to your destination. Oh, and you should probably drop by the mess hall and eat something. I hear it sometimes helps with nightmares." He disappeared into orange particles which scattered into nothing.

I let out a long sigh before getting up and started following the medical staff to wherever they were going. This scenario wasn't exactly new, I've read the reports and heard the chatter; similar situations have been happening to crew members on every ship in service to anyone who had had family in New Phoenix.

After I passed my medical and psychological diagnostics, I washed my face in the examination room's sink and looked at myself pensively in the mirror. In short, I looked like hell. I had a haunted look in my face from lack of sleep, my short black hair was disheveled, and there were bags under my eyes. Something on the far wall caught my attention; it was an old, faded recruitment poster for the Spartan-IV program someone had apparently put up and forgot about. I stared at it while a series of painful memories washed over me; namely the escape from my home planet as it burned, the death of my family, and eventually my training and augmentation as a Spartan-IV.

I sat back down in one of the chairs in the room and recalled a picture of my family – that is to say my grandparents and my brother – both of which were now dead of course as a result of the events surrounding the arrival of the Forerunner ship in orbit far above New Phoenix. I, of course, wasn't there; I was aboard the _Infinity_ fighting the newest threat to Humanity. Fighting to protect what was near and dear to me; something I had failed _miserably_ at. A few moments went by as I silently grieved for my lost family; it was a wound still very fresh and tender. A few seconds passed before I sat straight and slapped myself in the face with both hands and grinned, trying to force myself to brighten up. It was fine to mourn the dead, but it wouldn't be healthy to live in the past. They wouldn't want that for me. I'll try to live my life the best I can from now on, since _they_ no longer can.

I dropped by the mess hall and ate an early lunch and made my way back to the small tram station nearby I had taken to get here and was off back to S deck. The Infinity was three and a half miles long, which would take WAY too long on foot (Even for a Spartan) which is why the designers had thought to add in a tram system to swiftly move from one end of the ship to the other. Five minutes later, I made it to S deck. S deck was the part of the ship where Spartans get outfitted with their gear by automated machines. It also housed a massive barracks and an armory.

Since I had some time to spare, I made my way around and eventually found my four teammates prepping for the mission; one of which was one of the few original Spartan II's who 'washed out' of the program with what were nowadays mild complications. He was resuscitated from cryosleep and after some mildly risky operations, was eventually cleared by medical staff and given a set of Spartan – IV SOLDIER-class Mjolnir armor. His name was Tyler-042, and was currently cleaning and performing maintenance tasks on his heavily modified gravity hammer that he used during combat. Next to him sitting on the floor were Spartans Matt and Lorrie; Matt was cleaning his DMR and Sniper Rifle and Lorrie was loading bullets into clips for her two personalized M6 pistols from a few boxes around her. They had already donned their armor: Matt had DEADEYE-class armor, and Lorrie had ARGUS-class.

I walked over and greeted my team. "Hey guys. Where's Alice?" Tyler looked up and gestured over to a nearby mantis, whose hatch was open and faint squeals could be heard from inside. "She's drooling over the new mantis type." I laughed slightly. "Yeah, I should've guessed. Listen, I'll go get geared up and meet you guys in the pelican for launch and debrief." With nods and affirmations all around, I headed off to my assembler to get my armor on.

The metal gangway that went down the center of the lower portion of S-deck had designated locations for Spartans to interface with their armor bays; I walked down the gangway until I came up on mine. Officially known as Da Vinci, the armor bays were multi-axis assembly systems that aided a Spartan in the quick mounting and removal of their armor. All in all, the machine was shaped like a ring; there were places to place the feet and hands so they could have Mjolnir attached to them. Moored above the armor bay was a reinforced metallic track system that carried the bay from its standby position to where was needed under some lights. Under the end was a large, white, squat cylindrical hub of machinery that housed, supported, and powered the units below it. Around that was a small track that allowed various tools on articulated arms to orbit the assembler to where they were needed. Hanging from the underside of the hub was a six axis cambered gyro mount system that was large enough for an average sized Spartan to hang on to.

I stepped into the machine onto the two raised metal plates on the bottom of the assembly with molded metal armor that hinged away from each foot from the toes and the heels, respectively. As I stepped onto them, those sections of metal were folded and locked into place around my feet, effectively making my shoes. I then reached through the forearm armor and grasped the applicator handles. The forearm armor components were then screwed inwards from four "petals" by the automated tools grasped in the arms of the armor bay; as expected from the name, the components covered my arms from the wrist up almost to the elbow. As this was going on, it assembled the lower body armor – that is to say from your shins to the cod piece. For the next part, I kept my grip on the machine with my hands, and it retained a grip on _me_ as it hadn't yet released my feet. Thusly secured, the machine changed my orientation so I was more level with the floor. The cuirass went on next; a metallic hatch folded away under me and the front half was lowered down as the back half rose from the floor and was fastened into place around the shoulders and near the waist. After the cuirass was assembled, my pauldrons were then attached on my upper arms. All said and done, the entire process lasted about a minute.

As I was righted in orientation, the helmet was lowered onto my head and after a brief time spent looking at progress bars for updates, the HUD came online. I was now in my blue, white, and silver experimental NOBLE-class Mjolnir. The machine then released me; I heard a voice in my ear, "Are you sure you're ready?" It was Roland again, checking in. "Yeah Roland. Everything's a go. I'm good." A satisfied grunt. "Very good. Most of your team is ready and in the pelican. In interest of time, I'd suggest equipping yourself for close combat situations; I'd tell you more, but you'll learn everything soon enough. Good luck." He ended the transmission. I opened up a channel on Teamcom, "Hey guys, let me get my gear and I'll be over in a bit." Matt radioed back, "It's fine. We're still waiting for Alice to _get out of her new friend and get her ass over here_." A second went by and we heard the sound of metal falling on other metal followed by feminine cursing. "Alice, you ok?" I radioed in. "Yeah, I just got turned around and lost track of time. On my way." Alice may be a little klutzy from time to time, but she was our team's engineer (And resident genius) and she was damn good at it.

As this exchange was going on I picked up a shotgun, a DMR, and a handful of sticky grenades. I fixed the shotgun to the magnetic plates diagonally along my back, the DMR went on my left hip. The grenades were then magnetically fixed to places along my waist for easy reach.

I made my way over to the pelican just as Alice did. We exchanged nods and boarded the aircraft. We lifted off and once we made it far enough from Infinity, made the jump to Slipspace. (Thanks to new advances brought to us by the Engineers) Once the jump was done and the miniature Slipspace drive powered down, a small doughnut of material separated from the ceiling and floated at chest level and displayed helmet cams from combat holographically. (Now _this_ was new to me; just how augmented were these pelicans, now?)

A voice popped into life over the intercom as if to answer my mental question, "Hello ladies and germs, I'm Mira and I'll be your pilot today. Now, the mission you guys are tasked with takes you to an as of yet unnamed and uninhabited system in the Canis Majoris constellation. As you may recall from the accident reports, we had a (Relatively) small cloaked ship of unknown class – presumably Covenant loyalist in origin – attach to the _Infinity_. Once there, they covertly infiltrated the ship and made off with one of our Engineers that goes by the name of …" She paused for a second, " _Slightly Shifts_? Well, that's what he goes by. And as if that weren't bad enough, they somehow got ahold of a number of highly experimental SOEIV's … We're _still_ scratching our heads about how they managed that one …" I suddenly had an amusing mental image of the Elites making grunts do all the work and I couldn't help but smile slightly, despite the serious situation. A few questions were asked as to how or why this happened. "We could be here all day asking questions like that. The fact of the matter is the top brass, not to mention ONI, wants them back yesterday, and that's why you're all here for."

"Anyway, the ship was of course fired upon and its cloak was disabled. It was tracked to the system and then its engines too were disabled. However, extraction has not commenced yet because the ship has since drifted into an asteroid field surrounding the larger of the systems' two gas giants. Here's where we come in. I navigate us around the rocks and get you guys into the ship; we extract the engineer, and get the hell out of there as we blow the ship's core. As I said before, the Captain wants this cleaned up yesterday, and preferably quietly as the top brass doesn't want to admit that it fucked up. So, you know what that means: this is an off-the-books mission. Any questions?" All said 'No mam.' "Good. Since it'll take about a half hour to get to the system at this speed, settle in and enjoy the ride, ok?"

I sighed and looked out at the rear of the ship out the small window into the total black of Slipspace, thinking. Of all the engineers on the ship, it had to be this one. I knew this particular Engineer. I would say we were friends, but I was unsure if Engineers make that deep of emotional bonds. Even so, I was walking along a corridor just exploring the ship on my off time one day and saw him float into view from some overhead duct, pull off a bulkhead panel like it was nothing, lay it against one of the walls, and start to repair what was behind. He was repairing some circuitry and was looking around for a section he had just manipulated. In the process of repair, the section had been placed on the end of a flat component, and was sent flying as he quickly placed some larger component on the other end that ended up resting on one of its' uppermost gas bladders and it couldn't reach behind it far enough. How he didn't see that coming was beyond me; I mean the guy has three sets of eyes after all. He was visibly frustrated, so I decided to lend a hand.

I walked up and got the piece and handed it out to him. He looked at me with his six obsidian eyes and blinked in sequence before reaching a tentacle out and gently taking it from me. We spent the next half hour or so 'bonding' over repairing items. (It wasn't like I had anything else to do for the next few hours or so, and if I could help somebody along the way why not?) After the work in the immediate area was done, he put it back in proper order and turned to me with two of his tentacles extended and loosely coiled before him pointed towards me and made a few gestures. He was attempting to communicate with me. I cocked my head, confused. After a few attempts at this, he lowered his head and shook it. (Huh, it seems some body language _is_ universal after all.) He reached up and touched both sides of my helmet with his tentacles around where the data access ports were. I saw that he was loading a program into my helmet's computer. He retracted his tentacles and tried gesturing again, this time noticeably slower. I heard a mechanical voice in my helmet speaker, Can you understand me? "Yes?" He nodded apparently in approval. Good. Thank you for your assistance with my maintenance tasks. I am known as _Slightly Shifts_. "No problem. I was just trying to help someone in need." I extended my hand and offered my name.

I was jolted back to awareness as we dropped out of Slipspace. Our pilot opened up the coms again to address us, "Well, I have good news. I have found an easy point of entry to the ship. The ship in question seems to have suffered a catastrophic hull breach by way of asteroid. Get ready to go guys." The intervening time was spent getting to the ship and landing on it. The five of us activated our Gravboots and after opening the hatch one by one carefully made our way inside the ship.

I was the last one out of the ship. Before I could venture out into the void, a private com channel opened up for me, it was our pilot. "Could you pick me up? I could assist you … and provide a running commentary from the peanut gallery?" Amused at her humor, I asked her how I would go by going that. A panel opened up on one of the walls near the cockpit which exposed humming circuitry which glowed in the partial light of the bay; I surmised it probably housed the computer for the pelican and something partially ejected from a recess. _Was … was that an AI chip?!_ "Well, what are you standing around gawking at me for? You waiting for in invitation or something? Put me in and let's go!" I did as she said and made my way into the now derelict ship by carefully taking a hold of a torn piece of structure, I flipped my orientation so that it was more in line with this section of the ship and pushed off down into the hole in one, smooth motion. It seemed that some systems were partially functional as when I got within ten feet off the ground I passed into a field of gravity and fell to the floor. I groaned at the unexpected impact as Tyler came over and helped me up.

"You ok, chief?" I groaned and replied, "Yeah, I think I'll survive. But how are we supposed to find our way around this wreck?" _Look! Over there, a data access terminal. I need to interface with it._ I shrugged and connected her to it. "Woah, it looks just as bad in here as the ship does. Hang on, I think I can get a few things …" A short pause, "Huh. Apparently this is some kind of Covenant stealth ship, presumably made just before the end of the war. There's no ship class designator, so it's safe to assume it was a prototype; it was christened with the tentative name: _Twilight Harbinger_. Ah … here we are; a map. Pull me."

I inserted her back in and she kindly laid out a wireframe construction of the ship and superimposed it onto our visors. We made it through pockets of gravity and zero-g, navigating around the odd corpse of the now deceased crew and eventually made it to what passed for a brig for the Covenant. They were little more than pockets in the walls that were barred with energy fields; nothing harmful, but you still couldn't get though it from the inside. The control panel was emitting an alarming amount of sparks and each of us could tell we shouldn't go near that area. Thankfully, _Slightly Shifts's_ cell was near the door on the opposite side of the control panel. I motioned for them all to move back and shot the base of the emitter and the field stuttered and collapsed. _Slightly_ _Shift_ made a flurry of motions that I didn't catch, so he made them again slightly slower and the software caught up. _Quickly, the ship is beginning to fall into the gas giant. We need to get to the bridge!_ I relayed this information to my teammates. I could tell that they wanted to ask, but now really wasn't the time for questions, and they could sense it. We ran to the bridge and _Slightly Shifts_ went over to a console that was intermittently lighting up. He tried to interface with it when all power was suddenly cut from the bridge. _We need someone in the engine room to reroute power to the bridge and the Slipspace drive!_ Catching on, Alice took Matt by the arm and before he could question, she stated "Come on! We need to get to the engine room to reroute power to the bridge!"

I called after Alice, "And the Slipspace drive!" She quickly acknowledged it and began heading to the engine room with Matt. I turned to Tyler, "You know how to fly this thing?" He canted his head slightly, thinking quickly before shrugging slightly and saying he'd give it a try. He got prepared at the helm and I asked Slightly Shifts what the plan was. _My idea is to use the momentum generated by the gas giant's gravity well to get us to speed and open a Slipspace portal before we get crushed. We don't need to worry about a destination, so much as it's just about anywhere else but here._ "Oh. Well hopefully we can pull this off and not die." He nodded in agreement. _Indeed._ With really nothing else to do, Lorrie and I stood near a wall out of the way and was grasping onto a structural support.

A comms channel opened up – it was Alice. "We've got a little problem here; there might not be enough power for both the bridge and the drive. I took power from every system besides the drive, but it may not be enough"! I groaned internally. "It'll have to be enough, Alice, it's all we've got!" Throughout the ship we could now feel the occasional impact of space debris and the ship groaning from the stress. The helm came partially online and Tyler took control and did his best at station keeping what with full navigation inoperable. We must activate the drive now! I shouted, "Alice! Do it now!" A holographic image of the gas giant appeared and was growing in size alarmingly fast; it started to blur as a Slipspace portal began to form. Just before it fully formed, it collapsed and an explosion rocked what was left of the ship. "ALICE! MATT! YOU ALRIGHT?!" I heard a cough and a groan over the radio. "Yeah, we got out of there just in time, but the drive's trashed and the explosion destabilized the core. We're screwed." A few seconds later, we felt a small explosion and a crunch of metal. "Uh, Mira? What the hell was that?" She tapped into the ships' external surveillance and cursed. " _That_ was our ticket out of here getting swatted off of us by a meteor. Just as well really, we wouldn't have been able to use it in this mess anyway. Although it is a shame to see such a ship wasted like that. I was just getting to like it."

It was about then that I got the idea, and had them follow me to the cargo hold. Tyler objected, "Hey! What about keeping the ship in line?" I shook my head, "No use. Come on! I have an idea that just might see us out of this mess." He shrugged and abandoned the controls to follow me. I reached the cargo hold and activated the internal illumination procedure and purple lights sputtered and flickered to life in sequence revealing the pods that they stole. Perfect.

Lorrie commented, "Well, I suppose it's better than standing around waiting for the inevitable." We all quickly stored our gear and got in our pods. Electricity started to arc everywhere as the static electricity built up from the rarified gasses as we went through atmospheric entry. She must have set some kind of sensor or timer because Alice said, "That's it, the core's about to blow! It's been real nice knowing you guys … it's been fun." She left the team com channel open and each gave words of acknowledgement as everything faded to white.

 **[Oh no! Is this the end of Fireteam Indigo? … Of course not. See you guys next time!]**


	3. Tutorial

[Last updated: 04/23/18]

When I came to, I wasn't sure how much time had elapsed. I opened my eyes and found that my pod had completely sealed itself off from the world surrounding me; no feeds on the pod's internal monitors, nothing on my suit's instruments … anything. All of the windows had even polarized until they were black as the void; I was flying blind. I even tried contacting Mira. Nothing.

Before I could do anything else, I heard a voice … a girl's voice. She sounded so close that had I not known better, she might have even been inside the pod with me. "Phew, that was close! Any longer and I might've lost you. And don't worry, you're not dead." Inside my helmet, I blinked a few times trying to comprehend this … she had the _voice_ of a young girl, but this wasn't how a little girl talked – just who was this? "I guess one of the many questions you may have might have something to do with who I am, or how long you've been unconscious." She paused, allowing me to respond.

"Well, um – yes, those questions _had_ crossed my mind. So … let's start off with where we are?" She made a thoughtful noise and let it trail off. "Well … I guess you could say we're in a space between spaces, I think your people call it the dimensional void, or something like that. No, wait … that's the designation given to it by your enemies … hmm … now what did you call it again?" There was silence for a little bit before the sound of fingers snapping could be heard, "Of course! You call it Slipspace. Silly me."

 _We're in SLIPSPACE?!_ "But don't worry, I'm taking you somewhere you will be safe." The only thing I could think to ask in the face of all this impossibility was … how. She giggled a little and stated, "Well, with magic of course." Now, that threw me for a loop and I was silent for a moment; I had to make sure I had heard her correctly. "Wait, magic as in … well, magic? Like _actual_ magic? And _almost_ forgot to ask this by the way, but HOW DID I SURVIVE?! I'm sorry to yell, but I'm kind of freaking out a little bit here." A short girly sigh could be heard. "Well, I used magic to briefly and _drastically_ slow down time in the immediate area around the ship to save you. And it was rather difficult, let me tell you; time magic simply isn't my forte … but, I didn't really have a choice. As I can already sense the question coming, I can't yet say for certain about your teammates. By its' very nature, time magic is … well, it's complicated. I know that you must be worried about your comrades, and I sympathize, trust me. However, the only thing I CAN say for certain for now is that I have saved _**you**_. Ah. Here we go, give me a second to concentrate and we will be in a place more hospitable than this void."

The next thing I knew, I was sitting on a rock on a lush island covered in foliage. I surveyed my surroundings; it was a mildly small, rocky, steep island covered by lush vegetation, both bright yellow and green in color. One side of the island was particularly rocky, possessing large formations jutting outwards at an angle from the ground, one near the shore, protruding above the sea, and the other near the center of the island, overlooking it; the latter has a pair of waterfalls falling down from it into a small lake below.

Topping the second rocky formation stands the most distinctive element of the island: a truly gigantic tree with a gnarled, mildly curved trunk, ending in a number of large branches which sustain something that I would later understand as having been described as being similar to "An island on top of an island", being a large, flat section composed of earth and crowded by a multitude of normal-sized trees. It seemed to reach for the heavens themselves. It is such a gargantuan specimen that it is easily the single most distinctive feature of the island even from a great distance. It possessed a multitude of similarly large, curved and twisted roots, which right below the trunk sustained massive lumps of earth; something which creates some sort of covered area right below the tree itself. It was truly a sight to behold.

I heard a sigh of contentment and I looked behind me and saw a little girl sitting on an oversized blue and white mushroom of some sort, absent-mindedly swinging her legs. She was indeed a small girl, who looked no more than ten or fourteen years of age, but the conversation on the way here – wherever "here" was – proved otherwise. She was around five feet tall with a slight childlike build and had long flowing blonde hair down to her bare feet with what looked like small, stationary … wings? … coming out around her ears (If not just a bit more forward towards the forehead; perhaps a decoration of some kind?) and she had the most piercing green eyes, now warm with contentment. She was garbed in a frilly light pink and white layered robe which had hints of light blue here and there, with a pink ribbon tied loosely around her neck. "It feels so nice to come back home. Welcome to Tenrou Island!"

"Alright, let's see here … The first thing you should probably know, as I can use magic, I'm known as a mage, or more commonly as a wizard. The world you now inhabit is called Earthland. To use a rough analogy, magic is what might be called the currency in this land much as higher technology and aliens are for yours. Sadly, I cannot take you back to where I found you. In order to save you – and hopefully the others – I had to use a very old magic simply called Dimensional Travel Magic, which as far as I know, is a one way trip for those living to cross to another world. This world." She paused again to let all this sink in.

As much as I wished to go back, with the war finally over … at least things looked like they would be in good hands from now on. Besides … other than a sense of duty, there really wasn't anything left for me in that universe. Most of which I had held precious died along with my childhood _and_ my homeworld; and what remained were composed along with the rest of New Phoenix. There was nothing left for me there. Not a damn thing.

I quickly processed her information and was struck by something, "Wait, so if it's a one way trip to those using the magic, how could you come and save me? Not that I'm not grateful." She had a surprised look on her face for a second. "Oh, didn't I tell you already? I'm dead. This island is my final resting place and has been for quite some time now." I stared at her blankly for a second unable to form a coherent thought. Finally, after about fifteen _awkward_ seconds of me staring at her in silence, I replied in a small voice, "Magic?" She nodded. "Magic. Or more appropriately, I am what is classified as a magical being but …" she shrugged, "… semantics."

I sat back down on the boulder I originally found myself on; my mind was racing and was filled with a jumble of questions. I took a second and calmed them down as much as I could, then grew curious as I realized that she just told me I was now in another world; one of which she was intimately familiar with, judging by how she was talking. "So … what is your world like? This … Earthland? It certainly can't be any worse than the seemingly interminable hell we had to endure during the war, and the events that came after … can it?" At this, she looked down sadly and continued in a small voice. "I've been watching from this island for quite some time, witness to what Humanity had to do to survive." She looked up at me with a solemn expression. "I watched helpless as I saw families being torn apart, continents being leveled by the push of a button, _entire worlds_ once teeming with life … burned white with ash, and frozen under thick clouds. What was it you called that process?" I paused and replied, "Glassing. It's … called glassing." She paused for a moment to collect herself before she could continue. "Humanity may have done some horrible things to itself over the years, but nothing that deserved what it got … not _genocide_ ." She was silent for a moment longer. Eventually, a pained smile crept into her features and she responded to my question. "I can't promise you won't have to fight seriously from time to time, but the fate of the world and of all Humanity won't hang in the balance should you fail."

She coughed, stretched and continued on a new tack. "As I said earlier, magic is what runs this world. Magic can be found in every home, bought and sold in any store. For most, it's really more of a tool … a mundane part of everyday life from the flame lacrima in a home fireplace or firebox in a steam train, to lighting lacrima providing electricity, explosive lacrima … pretty much everything you can think of. Of course not everyone can be a wizard. Only ten percent of a nation's populace are even able to use magic, which is what led to the creation of wizarding guilds, _one of which are very close to my heart._ Wizard guilds exist to help people in various means … but unfortunately, some have fallen from those teachings. Such instances are known as dark guilds." I asked for further clarification on what a lacrima was. "Simply put, lacrima are magical crystalline substances that can be infused with spells and used for all sorts of applications. When you get your hands on one you'll see what I mean better. It's kind of hard to explain without showing you."

She fixed me with an intensely thoughtful gaze and said, "A wizards magic is intertwined with the very essence of their life; their lifeforce, if you will. Throughout their life they strive to perfect their chosen magic and thus become stronger all the more because of it. Perhaps some even beginning to rival the strength of a Spartan, although in a different way, of course." She paused for a moment, thinking intensely. "Since you would stick out like a sore thumb what with your abilities and all, and little you could do to explain it without the use of magic, I shall give you a few gifts. Please hold still." She got up and walked around to where I was and motioned for me to remove my helmet and positioned her fingers on specific places on my temples and focused. Soon her hands began to glow. When she was done, I felt … different. Like I could do something more than I could before, which is to say a novel feeling for a Spartan. She let her arms fall to her sides, obviously drained and sat back down on her mushroom. "There. I have given you a type of magic called requip. It allows you to summon weapons and items by calling out the item's name, thinking about it, or interfacing with the system directly via holography. Here, try it." I cocked my head to one side and shrugged. _Nothing ventured, right?_

I placed the palm of my left hand over the back of the right, and slid it upward back towards my right elbow and a holographic menu appeared before me. I found a rather large menu that wasn't there before; I selected something simple and familiar, an M6. I felt an intense upwelling of … something deep inside me – from the core of my very being – it wanted, _needed_ out. "Try to place your hands close together and focus on the item you wish to summon."

I brought my hands together like I was holding a Grifball close to my chest and a small light began to shine in the center of the area I created. I focused intensely and the light began to glow brighter and brighter until the light began to take shape and an M6 dropped into my grasp, cold, hard, and familiar. My companion, who had been watching intensely, clapped gleefully. "You did it! You used magic!" I began to smile and was about to respond before I felt weak; my stamina was draining rapidly. I sunk back onto the rock and breathed somewhat heavily; sweat dripped off my nose, surprising me. When had I begun to sweat!? I felt like I had just finished running the length of the _Infinity_ several times! I looked up and my companion had a serious look on her face and was nodding at me. "Ah, yes … that's right. Magical fatigue. Feels great, doesn't it?" I raised an eyebrow, "Magical fatigue? What's that?" She did a small shrug, "It's exactly what it sounds like; you used up a lot of your magic summoning that weapon. If I were to guess from your body's reaction, you used up most of your allotment. However, this is good news. Like any fatigue, you can mitigate it with training and practice." I slowly got up before going over to a nearby spring to drink a little from it. Feeling better, I went back to my rock.

My companion had a curious look about her, "So … you feeling up for trying it again?" I paused slightly, taking stock in how I felt, and nodded. She grew serious and held up a finger for me to pause, "Hold on. I'm going to transfer a small amount of my magic to you; I don't want you to overdraw yourself." This sounded like something rather important I needed her to elaborate on. "What exactly would happen if I were to overdraw?" I could almost sense what she was about to say, but I needed to confirm it; this felt much too important to just let myself _assume_ what she meant. She focused a serious gaze onto me, "Well, it has a few levels. Depending on how much is overdrawn as well as the size and scale of the spell used, you could feel extremely fatigued and unable to perform magic for a while. Trying to do so at moments like that could lead to serious harm to yourself. The next level is that you go into a small coma. After that point, if your reserves are overdrawn enough, you actually begin to use your life energy instead of magic, which quickly leads to death." My eyes widened in comprehension. "I see you understand the need to be careful with magic. Trust what your body tells you; ignorance easily leads to death. Remember that."

She raised her hand to me and it glowed with a soft golden light for a short time and I felt much better. "There. It appears I wasn't wrong before; your reservoir of magic is pretty small. However, like I said earlier, that can be dealt with. But then again, that's to be expected as you only just began to use magic." She grew less serious and more cheerful, "But enough with that. Are you ready to try again?" I nodded. I tried a weapon that I was a little bit more familiar with, a DMR. I brought my hands together and tried to summon it, like before. However, it proved to be quite a bit harder to accomplish.

In the end, I was able to summon the weapon into my hands, but only just. I had to focus extremely hard – to the extent of ignoring everything else around me. I had to completely exhaust my supply of magic; she even had to feed me a little more magic during the process. I fell from the rock onto the ground and laid flat on my back, breathing hard for a long time, completely drained. She came over and sat on the ground nearby. I eventually brought my breathing under control and looked over to her. She had a small smile on her face, "You've done an admirable job at requipping your weapons, but I suggest you don't try it again anytime soon." I looked down at her hands, it appears she picked up the weapons that I unceremoniously dropped when I fell to the ground.

She looked over the weapons in her hands, obviously pleased. "So … what do you think, will you be able to use this?" I nodded, "Yes. Very much so. The ability to bring pretty much any weapon to my side via this method should prove to be quite useful." I looked at the M6 for a moment and then back up at her, "Eh, I spawned it, but how do I put it back?" She replied, "Imagine you were just putting the weapon or item down or storing it away in a container. Simply storing something doesn't use magic, but _summoning_ something does. Again, the larger and/or more complex the object is, the harder it is to summon and the more magic is needed. Although, the more times the same object is summoned, the less magic is required per summon. That means that summoning those guns, and those like it – while hard at first – will become as stepping stones for harder summons. You'll see what I mean soon enough."

By then I was just lying down on the ground, completely drained. She laid down on the ground next to me and stared up into the blue, cloud studded sky. "If you're worrying about your current proficiency, don't. You're just beginning at it. At higher levels, you will be able to summon a weapon, use it, and simultaneously store it and bring out another. These things just take time and patience." She turned to face me with a pleased and confident expression on her face, "You'll get there."

Then a thought occurred to me, "Can I use this magic to store things as well? Other than weapons, I mean." She thought for a moment, "I suppose so, but I don't remember hearing about anyone trying that." I reached out and grabbed a large fruit twice the size of my head that was lying on the ground near me and held it up. "You said _storing_ an item doesn't use magic, right?" A nod. I concentrated on the object and imagined placing it into a large footlocker. The fruit lit up brightly, floated free of my grasp slightly, and vanished in blue particle effects. I nodded in satisfaction, "Huh. Cool." I brought the menu up on my arm and indeed it was listed there, under the "Recent" tab. How convenient. (Although I'd be hard pressed to pronounce the name given it)

Eventually, I felt well enough that I got up and fetched my helmet. I put it back on and noticed something new on the HUD. An empty meter was running along the very top of my field of vison alongside the shield status bar. I asked her what that meant. "It displays how much magic you have at your disposal as a bar. Of course, over time and once you've gotten used to magic, you will eventually be able to gauge how much magic you have left just by how it feels. It replenishes over time much as your shield does, only you have to eat or rest to replenish it – ideally both. As your shielding is technology-based, I guess you could say that magic is biology-based, as it is replenished along with the body."

She got back up and came back towards me with a thoughtful look on her face. I heard her mutter something under her breath. I asked her what was up. "I just thought of something that should make things easier for you. How would you like ammunition that incapacitates rather than harms?" I thought for a second, "You mean like training ammo?" She placed a hand horizontally and turned it side to side, "Ehh … kind of." I nodded, "That sounds great. I'd rather not seriously harm anyone if I can get away with it." A pleased look crossed her face, "Good."

She outstretched both arms and turned her hands so they were open and palms facing up. She materialized two boxes of M6 ammo in her hands before looking at me. I could sense something different from one of them. "You can tell, can't you?" She held out the one that felt different. "This box holds ammunition that I imbued with magic _expressly_ for this purpose. Now, when someone gets shot by these … while they are still quite painful, at worst they will only knock them out. Remember, stronger foes will take more shots to knock out than weaker foes. The other box is the normal ammunition you're familiar with. To utilize this, I have added a switch on each of your weapons to toggle between the two modes near the safety; as of right now, all of your weapons now default to the magic ammunition." She materialized a small number of large crates around us. They had strange glowing purple and black writing all over them on every side in strange, unfamiliar patterns. "These crates hold all the ammo you will ever need for all of your weapons. As for your energy swords and Forerunner/Covenant weapons, they now behave normally until they make contact with someone. When this happens, they merely incapacitate those they contact; if the need arises for lethality however, I've added an override switch on them. Although I hope you won't need it."

I internalized all that. My weapons taken care of, my mind turned to my Mjolnir. I asked her what I should do if/when my armor became damaged. It wasn't like I could just take it to a blacksmith's shop or something and ask for repairs. This was 26th century technology … not something that would take kindly to being beat between a hammer and anvil; if it could even affect it at all. She thought for a second about this. "I don't know just yet, for now it would probably be best if you _didn't_ damage it, if at all possible. I hope to have better news for you a little more down the road."

She then took a short walk away to drink from a small fjord and beckoned at me, "Please, follow me. I have one final thing to do." I despawned my helmet, and continued after her. (After hastily making sure I could bring it back, I sighed in relief when it did in fact come when I summoned it)

She led me to a babbling brook that eventually overlooked a large river not too far away. She indicated for me to sit on a large, flat rock in the middle of the brook. I did so and she folded her legs under herself and sat down beside me, not caring of the water. "The magic I gifted you – requip – was not originally intended for use in combat roles … at least, it wasn't in my time – I was always told it was used most frequently in farming. However, there are those who now live who use it in combat, and use it well. No … the purpose for us being here isn't so I can give you another magic, but so I can help you find your own." I was quite surprised at this. "What? _I have a magic?_ "

She nodded. "Yes. … Well, yes and no. You have the _capability_ to use magic … one of your own, I mean – but I can't tell the type. We are here to bring it to the surface. I noticed it when I gave you requip. I'll be honest, I don't know where it came from, perhaps it has something to do with your being a Spartan … I just don't know." She looked over to me and grinned slyly, "Well … enough of this. Let's find out what you can do!"

About ten minutes later, I was meditating like I was instructed to. Listening to the sounds of nature around me; the rustle of the leaves, the gentle sounds of the water around us … I just began to zone out. I reflected on our conversation not too long ago.

She picked up a stick and lifted it into the air, the end of which glowed brightly. She began to write in the air; what she wrote with it stayed where she left it. "The power to use magic must come from both within and without. Spells are the concentration and physical release of the magic power that we possess, stored within our bodies. Put simply, magic power is as vital for a wizard as the air they breathe; without it, we can't really do much at all … though I'm feeling you may be an exception to this rule. The base substance on which magic power is built is called Ethernano." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Ethernano?" A nod. "Yes. Ethernano can be found in the atmosphere around us. We have the ability to absorb it into our bodies, then after intense focus, the Ethernano is transformed into magical power. Meditation is the best way to draw in Ethernano, so that's why I have you here." There was a small pause for all that to sink in. "So, what were to happen if I absorbed a lot of this … Ethernano? Would I be able to use more complex or bigger spells?" The corners of her mouth turned upward in a small smile, "Good question. Every wizard has a container – as I said earlier – a limit to the amount of magic power and the amount of Ethernano they can absorb. When you use a lot of magic, you empty this container, but your body continues to draw in Ethernano on its own. In a relatively short time, your container will be replenished and you can use spells again without having to do anything at all; not even meditating. In short, there's no limit to the amount of Ethernano in the atmosphere." I turned my head from side to side, contemplating this. "That sounds like very good news, tactically speaking." She grinned knowingly. "There's one other extremely important element to this. It simply isn't enough to absorb Ethernano out of the atmosphere, and then convert it into magic power. I am referring to a wizard's feelings." Naturally, I was skeptical. "A person's feelings? C'mon, you're pulling my leg here." She made a little pouty face at that and crossed her arms, "I'm serious! It's vital to the process and almost impossible without it!" I sighed and apologized to her. She accepted it and continued, "As I said, it's almost impossible to use magic well without feeding off of our strongest emotions, so it's absolutely vital to be able to access them." She smiled at me for a bit before I grew curious enough to ask. "Hm? Oh, it's nothing … it's just that you've simply reminded me of a conversation I had quite a long time ago with someone I used to know."

I was brought back to the here-and-now by a peculiar sensation enveloping me so I opened my eyes and looked around me. A blueish-white miasma was covering my body. "So … it works …" I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up. She was there, extending a hand with an approving smile. "Part one, complete!" I got up and we walked up onto dry land and asked her what was next. "Next? Why we put that magic power into use!" The next hour was spent doing all manner of things trying to find a way for me to activate my magic. Eventually, I took a break and set up an impromptu shooting range with head-sized fruit as target practice.

My friend was nearby, watching in curiosity. I equipped the DMR I had by then put across my back; the M6 was on my left hip. I chambered a round and shot a few fruit before an idea came to me … what if I used this new feeling I had and pushed it into my weapon? One way to find out. I saw her take notice as I chambered the last round in my magazine, and briefly wondered if I would need to reload. I breathed in to center myself, took aim, and on the exhale, I squeezed the trigger.

The moment the round hit the fruit, a shining grid of light quickly spread out from the point of impact and around the object. It then exploded into little cubes, leaving behind a cloud of dust and a short rain of cuboid debris. I looked away from the iron sights, surprised. She walked up to my side and thought aloud, "I wonder …" She asked me to go over there and after directing me to focus the feeling on my fist, she had me punch a larger boulder. The moment my fist touched it, a bright light shone from the point of contact. White tendrils of energy wrapped themselves around the object, it exploded, and then an impact crater was all that was left of the boulder after the dust and the smoke settled. "So, _that's_ what it is … you have Crash magic." I stored the DMR and walked over to her so we could hear each other more clearly. "Crash magic? What's that?"

"It is a very advanced Magic which gives the user the ability to smash everything they come into contact with. If the user is unfocused, they may destroy objects such as houses unintentionally." I emitted a snort at that. "I can destroy houses as is if I'm not careful." Now, it was her turn to look surprised. "Oh, right … well then you shouldn't have much trouble controlling it then." Curious, I pressed on, "What else can crash magic do?" She searched around for a stick and began to draw in the dirt. "Crash has various offensive and defensive properties. Using its inherent nature of being able to crush anything it comes into contact with, the user is able to nullify the effects of certain magics by literally smashing them to pieces. By imbuing their fist with Crash, the user is able to send an enemy flying quite a few feet with incredible force. It is also capable of being fired as a burst of energy at the opponent; you have discovered this particular property just now with your weapon. This magic can also be utilized effectively as a defensive means; for example, by crushing the ground underneath them, the user is able to create a cushion of sorts against enemy attack. It is also possible for Crash to be used as a deflective barrier, sending an assailant flying backwards when they come into contact with it. You'll discover more the longer you use it. However, until you can use Crash magic consciously, in times of stress it will help you on its' own. There is so much about magic that we simply don't know. At times, it seems to simply be inanimate, but at others … it seems to have a mind of its own." She trailed off and stopped speaking.

It was then I realized I hadn't even gotten her name yet. "Hey, I _probably_ should've asked this earlier, but what's your name?" In reply she simply winked at me, held up a finger, smiled slightly and said, "Spoilers, sorry. I'm not ready to reveal that little piece of information as of yet. You may simply refer to me as … a friend." Friends? "I'm extremely grateful for your help; I … I don't know what to say." She smiled widely, "It's no problem; I'm glad to help as well as make new friends."

She then produced a sly grin, "Now, you may have noticed that we're on an island. Weren't you in your pod before we got here?" I quickly looked at her. "Well, yes. That _had_ been nagging on my mind, but I figured that you'd get to explaining that eventually." She elaborated, "Using a different type of magic, I 'barrowed' your mind. Now, if you want to get technical, we're currently residing in my mindspace … it shows where I feel most at peace. Not surprisingly, it is a mental reflection of my home island. The great thing about this is that in order to do all this training I've just put you through, it would've normally taken about two days ... but in reality, it has only been about ten minutes or so." I was impressed at that. "Time dilation?" She nodded. "Yes. That's exactly right. A quirk of this magic is that I can manipulate the perception of time in my mindspace."

Smiling, she shook her head, "Well, anyway … I'm about to reintegrate your mind with your body. Some things you should know before I do, however. I have changed your insertion point so that your trajectory will land you a comfortable distance from a population center. Once you're on the ground, I ask that you seek out the wizarding guild known as Fairy Tail. It's a great guild to join; they treat their members as family. When they ask you about yourself … well, I'll leave that decision up to you – but, I've always known honesty as the best course of action if you want people to trust you and fight by your side. If you choose honesty, please … break it to them as gently as you can. Welcome to your new home. I sincerely hope you grow to love and fight for this world as much as your previous ones. Good luck … Spartan. Watch that first step, it's bound to be a doozy!" A white light again enveloped me, and I saw no more of this island.

 **[If any one of you guys haven't already watched Fairy Tail, you may want to fix that. It's great; plus this story will stick rather closely to it, so beware of** _ **large**_ **spoilers. You have been warned. :)]**


	4. Down to Eathland

[Last updated: 04/23/18]

The world around me – that is to say, the inside of my pod – came back into focus slowly; blurry and nondescript at first before it eventually focused in properly. The first thing I noticed was that on both of the screens before me were the blinking words "SLIPSPACE DE-INSERTION PROTOCOLS ACTIVATED" in bright, red text that were followed by a countdown timer set for five seconds. The timer reached zero and there was a jarring vibration, which I assume was my pod making its way back into real space. The windows depolarized allowing me to see this new large planet. As planets go, it didn't look too different than what was considered the norm for life as Humanity knew it, being that it looked mostly water.

A few silent minutes went by as I rocketed through the star-studded void until a deafening roar grew outside; I've finally hit atmosphere. All of a sudden, warnings popped up on my hud of the sharp incline in air temperature inside the pod; good thing I was sealed safely inside my suit, as I'd be sweating _pretty good_ right about now. (Small wonder the Helljumpers motto is "Feet first into hell") I played with the monitors a little bit and found a system that was still functional: it brought up a light blue holographic grid centered on a blinking green egg shape … my pod; it was a holographic altitude display. I found an external camera that was mounted on the underside of the pod; fortunately, it had a special filter that compensated for the immense heat generated. I looked down at the planet below me: I was heading towards a large peninsular outcropping on the western side of an _enormous_ continent; more specifically, the southeastern part of it where some sort of large gulf was located. There appeared to be desert terrain on the gulf's Western to Northwestern directions which eventually turned mountainous, and from the North-Northeast to the Eastern directions was verdant forest terrain; thankfully it looked like that was where I was headed. The good news was that in a moderately green area between the two extremes directly North of the gulf, specifically _on_ and _near_ the coast appeared to be several coastal towns; true to her word, at least I wouldn't have far to go for directions.

I was pulled away from the planet below by yet another alarm; on the holo-grid, my pod was rapidly closing in on a red thatched boundary marked at 3000'. A small wireframe model of the SOEIV appeared and then it was zoomed in on at the top, the upper exterior panels were highlighted in green and began to pulse as a timer appeared next to it. The timer reached zero and the panels separated from their moorings and from the end of a strong cord acted as a drag chute, serving to both slow my descent and to keep the pod oriented upright.

After I reached a _second_ boundary – this time set at 164' – computer controlled braking rockets engaged, slowing my pod further. Everything was going rather smoothly until an explosion rocked my pod; one of the rockets in question was zoomed in on and a **lot** of red text with angry leaderlines appeared with just as many exclamation points; a malfunction. I swore. My view began to rotate as the pod descended through the sky; I used the joysticks to try and maneuver myself manually back into the correct trajectory. The computer calculated that my velocity _was_ survivable, but it wouldn't be pretty. I could already tell as much. As I passed through a thick layer of clouds, I finally saw the landscape. For a second, I was reminded of home and was simply awestruck by its beauty; however, I had to tear myself away from it. I used the joysticks to maneuver around some more to help bleed off more momentum until I realized it wouldn't be enough. Warning lights flared and an automated message sounded as I fell out of the sky, ' _Brace for impact. Brace for impact. Brace for impact. Brac–_ ' I took its' advice.

I hit the ground at what could only be a ludicrous speed and was sent ricocheting around and, at times, _through_ the landscape for what seemed like forever until I eventually came to a stop upright against a nest of trees my 'rampage' had made, dizzy but in one piece. The SOEIV however, wasn't so lucky; the four glass panels were cracked to all hell, but were somehow in one piece. I wasn't exactly surprised when I noticed that my monitors showed nothing but static, sparking intermittently. All in all, my pod was thoroughly trashed. It was then that I remembered my 'passenger'. I called out to her. After a moment, I felt a slight spark ignite inside my head and a reply. _Grah, what the hell was that?! Note to self: NEVER do that again. "_ Good to see you're in one piece." She scoffed at that, _Yeah … no thanks to your driving. Where are we, anyway?_ "That? … I'm still working that one out." I quickly filled her in on what I had experienced.

As we dialogued, my head cleared enough so that I could move around again without feeling so much like I was spun like a top, which in all fairness, probably wasn't too far from the truth. I tried the hatch, and it wouldn't move. I looked more closely and saw that the multiple impacts had actually deformed and merged the edges of the door with the pod's titanium frame. It looked like I would have to use the explosive bolts to exit the pod. I found the switch I needed, and after I removed the black plastic covering, I pushed the large red button and armed the bolts. In front of me, four red buttons flickered and lit up along the door. As I pushed each one, they turned from red to green. I pushed the last button and there were a series of small explosions inside the door, the last of which was enough to blow the door off the pod and sent quivering into a nearby tree. Freedom.

"Hey, check this out." I requipped the M6 (Having stored it earlier), and true to her word, it was somewhat easier to spawn this weapon; although it still ate up much of my magic. I was met with her dry wit as a response. _Huh, so you can do that now, eh? That's pretty cool; you could've put on a show back on the Infinity. You could've charged for admission; just think of the credits you could've made! You'd need a rake – perhaps a shovel even. Maybe one of those industrial vacuums …_ I was not amused, "Oh, ha ha, you're funny." _Thanks, I was considering becoming a comedian back when I was a little microchip._ I couldn't suppress a grin as I rolled my eyes at her.

I told her all about what I experienced on the island … although doing so took FOREVER. (She had many questions) As we talked, I removed the gear I had stowed in the pod and started walking in the direction of the coastal towns I had seen from my pod until I found a slightly misused game path which eventually turned into a dirt road which led out of the forest. Hey _Jai? Stop for a second … I want to try something._ I complied. "What's up?" I saw a spike in power usage and curiously asked what she was doing. She said that she wanted to properly greet me, but she had to do something first. Before I could ask what that meant, I was met with a white holographic being come into existence in front of me. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it was her. In short, she was beautiful: she had shoulder length dark hair, and an attractive voluptuous figure. She was clad in resplendent armor that reminded me of Norse mythology – more specifically, a Valkyrie. Across her back, she wore a large two-handed waraxe, made to fit the look of her armor. In her hands, she held a large wooden tankard. (That she occasionally drank from) The whole look made her look like some kind of Nordic apparition; she pulled it off well. She also had the circuit-like tracks running all across her body that most commonly appear on AI avatars, mostly vertical and what looked like white pulses of energy glowing along those conduits coming from her feet and ending at the hairline in the back of her neck.

She bowed her head in greeting, and looked at me with a slightly embarrassed expression on her face. "I'm not usually a stickler for the rules, but I seem to have been remiss in proper etiquette, as I have not formally introduced myself yet. Hello. I am UNSC AI Mir 1708-1, otherwise known as Mira. Glad to meet you Spartan. _"_ I grinned and responded, "Hi. I'm Jai Mathers. Great to meet you. If you don't mind me asking … why a Valkyrie? That is what you based your avatar on, right? A Valkyrie from Nordic mythology?" She blinked and looked down at herself, " _Well … I've always liked the whole strong, female warrior/harbinger of death thing that the Valkyries always had going on. Plus, I think it meshes well with the whole Spartan mythos, yeah? I just thought we would complement each other well like this._ " I was a little taken aback, to be honest. I wasn't expecting her to do that … not that I mean that as a bad thing, of course. "It's very well put together; I compliment you, good lady." I accompanied that last part with a small theatrical bow. She unsuccessfully stifled a laugh, "Laying it on a _little thick,_ aren't you _?_ " I laughed a little at that. "Mmh. Perhaps."

She stretched this way and that and commented about how nice it was to finally have a body. "Wait … hold on a second, you're not used to having a body?" She stopped stretching and looked at me, "Well, yeah. My very first task was to fly your team on the mission. I haven't projected my avatar until just now. I'm, like, a few days old, ok?" By then, I had walked to the edge of the forest to see open plains with a field every now and then. She looked around her and gestured with her tankard, "Well, now that we've got that out of the way, why don't we go to that town over there? Surely the denizens will know where we can find this "Fairy Tail", right?"

Indeed, there was a view of the closest coastal town in the distance. (I had to use the zoom function in my helmet a little) As I walked, I wondered if I could bring out any of my armor enhancements as well as weapons. I consulted my holographic menu and it turned out I could, so I requipped the jetpack and flew to the town in the distance at medium thrust. (As it turns out, the Jetpack armor enhancement was the most efficient mode of transportation in terms of magical cost) But, even _with_ the speed the Jetpack afforded me, the travel time took up the remainder of what _was_ an afternoon. Evening found me sprawled on a hill just outside of the quaint town taking a short rest, looking at the stars just beginning to show in the fading light of dusk. I wanted to scout out the town when it was dark; I didn't wish to interact with the locals before I knew the layout of the location. You know, in case things got bad somehow. It never hurt to have a Plan B.

When evening came, I went inside the town and spent the next few hours exploring. I asked Mira if she could use the information to create a map of the area. _Sure, I mean, I'm no cartographer, but I'll do what I can. Why, if you don't mind my asking?_ I hesitated for a moment before replying, _"_ It's just this nagging sense I'm having; it may just be the reaction of a slightly paranoid soldier, but I think it'd be best to be prepared if I need it. Well that, and in this line of work, a healthy dose of paranoia usually keeps you alive. If nothing else, we'll have a detailed map of this town." A few hours later I eventually looked at the time, it read 23:30. Feeling tired, I went back to the hill I found earlier and laid down. I'd check into one of the inns I found, but I don't know the culture nor do I even have any credits. Come morning, I'll start searching around for a way to this … Fairy Tail.

Later that morning, I was going from merchant to store to anyone who might look like an info broker to see if anyone knew of a guild known as Fairy Tail. Good news was, most of them had heard of it; hell, they were even pictured on one of the paper magazines one of the venders had. (Actual paper!) However, the bad news was that they all gave conflicting directions as how to get there and they started to argue about it. I politely asked one of the venders in question if I could have the magazine; I told him I was between jobs, (Which was more of less true, in a way) and he smiled sympathetically and gave it to me free of charge on the house. I thanked the man who simply wished me a good day and waved. I also took note of his vendor stand: I intend to repay him for his kindness once I get money.

I didn't know where, but I just picked a direction and started walking. I eventually came to one end of a side alley wondering if I should try to 'get friendly' with one of the locals and was almost ran over by a stampede of squealing women. I then noticed that a _beautiful_ blonde woman was lying face down in a puddle, groaning in pain and covered in dirty tread marks; it was _probably_ safe to say she was ran over by the mob. I extended an arm in an offer of assistance, which she thankfully accepted. She brushed herself off and quickly looked me over in mild surprise, "Oh wow! That's some _really_ cool armor you have there!" I laughed at that a little. "What this? It's just Mjoln- … nothing. Thank you." (From within my head Mira snickered and did a slow clap) _Smooth … smooth …_ The woman was obviously confused for a second before shaking it off. She extended a hand, "Well, anyway … thanks for the help up. I'm Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia." I quickly gave her a once-over. She had chocolate brown eyes and shoulder length blonde hair that was tied by a blue ribbon in a small ponytail to the right side of her head with the rest of the hair loose. She wore a white blouse with a thick navy blue trim, a navy skirt with a very thick belt that held a whip and a leather container of some kind. She was _very_ buxom, and sported quite a curvaceous body. _Shit_ … 'Mira? Is everything ok?' _Huh? Oh, uh … yeah. Everything's just fine … '_ Mira … what is it.' _Oh, ok. Fine. She's just very attractive, ok?_ I grinned, 'Oh. Ok.' She then made an interested grunt. 'What?' _It's … just that I was thinking you'd make a bigger deal of it is all …_ That intrigued me, 'Why, _is_ that weird?' She replied, _Well, no. As you know, AI's are made from a personality matrix derived from scanned deceased Human brains. As far as I can tell, my donor had no hangups when it came to women, so neither do I._ I grinned. 'Oh, I get it. You're into women. That's cool!' _You ... you really think so? '_ Of course I do! Far be it from me to judge what another deems attractive, you know?'

Back in reality, only a few seconds had passed. I reached for her offered hand and shook it. "Jai, Jai Mathers. Nice to meet you, Lucy. If you don't mind my asking, why were all of those women running and where?" She looked at me as if I had just dropped down from space. (This, coincidentally, was right on the nail.) "Haven't you heard? Salamander's here! In this backwater town of Hargeon! C'mon! You have to see him! He uses fire magic you can't even buy in stores!" Before I knew what was happening, she had grabbed my hand and started running in the direction all those women went before. Soon enough, we came to a large intersection of roads and streets of varying sizes where a rather large gathering of squealing women could be seen. Lucy led me to the very outer perimeter of the group and I could finally see the man all these women were going _absolutely crazy_ over. Due to the distance, I had to use the zoom function on my helmet again.

The man in question was a relatively tall and slim man with mildly short, spiky hair jutting outwards, with a long fringe left hanging over the upper left part of his face. He possessed a mildly rectangular face with sharp features, dark eyes and thin, dark eyebrows. His most distinctive facial feature was the dark tattoo that covered the right part of his forehead, just above his right eyebrow; it was highly reminiscent of a thin, stylized pair of tongs placed horizontally, with the "handles" pointing towards the mans' right. He was garbed in ornate clothing, with the most visible piece being a dark, high-collared cape almost reaching down to his knees, possessing a lighter inner part and light edges adorned by a pattern consisting of many rhombs – or possibly many "X"s – lined up one after the other. Such a cape was closed some inches below his neck by a small fastener adorned by some kind of a stylized flame, probably something to do with his epithet of Salamander; though the reference was lost on me … he didn't look anything like a small lizard.

The cape had a light ribbon hanging from it, and has large motifs adorning its sides, starting from the shoulders and going down several inches; each motif is shaped like a large, light and hollow circle from whose outer side many arrows jut outwards in every direction, and which has several wavy lines protruding towards its hollow center. Beneath such cape, he wore a simple, light short-sleeved shirt with outlined edges, paired with light pinstriped pants with visible hems, held up by a simple belt covered in elongated spots and largely hidden by his shirt and polished dark shoes with lighter soles and a light upper part going down from the ankle's front. He also sported three large metal bracelets around his right wrist and forearm. On his hand he wore two rings, one with a large pink heart on it where a jewel would normally go.

He kissed a ring on one of his fingers and waved to what now were his apparently adoring fans with his pointer and middle fingers extended. For some reason, this caused the horde of women to practically swoon over him. I noticed Lucy was holding herself cautiously with a blush growing on her face and a faraway look in her eyes. It was then that the idol of attention turned and looked at her directly, and she blushed so hard I could swear I could hear her heart pounding from the stress. He smiled at her as she started slowly walking her way towards him; I cautiously followed somewhat close behind her, not sure what was going on, when from outside the group, shouts in a distinctly male voice of something like "Igneel" or something could be heard getting louder and louder as the source approached. It was then that a teenager pushed his way through the crowd into sight accidentally knocking over Lucy in the process. He looked around fifteen years old, wearing dark pants tied at the waist and at each calf with rope, black sandals on his feet, a vest that was open at the front in the same color that had a bright orange trim. Over all this he wore a red cloak with white trim, a bedroll, and a scarf was adorned on his neck that was white with a black grid pattern on it. The most distinctive hallmark I could see of him (At this moment anyway) was his lightish red hair.

He took one look at this Salamander person and flatly asked who he was. This took the latter by surprise who proceeded to tell him just who he was in this smarmy, arrogant, rich boy voice that just made me want to punch his face in, "Why, I am the great Salamander! Surely you've heard of me before?" The teen blinked and said in a bored tone, "Never heard of ya.", and moved over to an alley and was walking away prompting the man to yell at him to wait. At this, three fangirls separated from the pack and tackled the teen to the ground before shouting insults at the teen for not having heard of the man. "The Great Salamander" made a gesture to the women and called them off. "Now, now my lovelies … I'm sure the poor boy never meant anything malicious by it." This got the fangirls to immediately go back to swooning over him _with what I SWEAR were hearts in their eyes_. Just what the hell is wrong with these women? A troubling thought came to me as I realized _it_ – whatever it was – was effecting women specifically. 'Mira? You still there? Everything fine in there?' _Yeah, yeah … I'm fine. It's affecting only women, I know. But I think that it only affects organic women; so I'm safe._ She then snorted softly and continued, _Besides, he's just not my type anyway. He's a guy; no offense._

But as for Salamander here … I couldn't _quite_ put my finger on it, but I really, _**REALLY**_ didn't like this guy. Fortunately, all this snapped Lucy out of her daze; I helped her up and she was now fixing "The Great Salamander" with a hard gaze. By this time, the teen had walked his way back to the man all the while staring at him with this deadpan look. "The Great Salamander" took out a marker and merely signed a prepared placard and held it out for him to take and said extremely condescendingly, "Here you go! Now you can brag to _all_ your friends!" He just stared at him with a deadpan expression. "No thanks." Two fangirls came up to him and kicked him against the side of a building and he landed into a pile of trash. It was then a small blue cat with white wings came down from the sky and landed softly in front of him and said in a small soft voice, "I guess that wasn't him after all?" The teen merely groaned in response.

I could feel my eye beginning to twitch in annoyance. I can only hope something is about to be explained, and soon. My head felt like it was about to _explode_ from the sheer amount of questions I was finding on this crazy planet!

"The Great Salamander" looked at the carnage his 'fans' had inflicted and quipped with what I identified as mock sadness (Or it could've just been that damn smarmy voice he was projecting at the moment, it was kind of hard to tell), "Well, I'm afraid I have to be going, ladies. I have business I have to attend to." This got everyone's attention and all the fangirls complained that he was leaving. "The Great Salamander" held up a hand and snapped his fingers. "Time for the red carpet." Purple flames appeared around him on the ground and lifted him about ten feet into the air leaving him to look down upon everyone gathered. "I'm having a soiree on my yacht tonight, and you're all invited!" Immediately after stating that, he rocketed off into the sky using his magic. Seriously? His "Red carpet" isn't even red … or a carpet. Poser. Mira couldn't help but giggle slightly at those thoughts.

During all this, the teen had gotten up and was watching all this transpire. Lucy and I walked up to him as he asked, "Who the heck was that guy?" Lucy piped up and stated coldly that she didn't know either, but that he was a real creep. She changed gears and waved in a friendly manner and smiled at the flying cat and the teen and thanked them for their help. We all decided to go and get something to eat before we all introduced ourselves. As it turned out, he knew the town a little better than us – not exactly an achievement where I'm concerned — and showed us to a little knife and fork restaurant he knew of which, surprise surprise, was nautical themed. I took my new friend aside on our way there and let her know I didn't have any money right then. She sighed and rolled her eyes before smiling at me and telling me she would be able to cover me. I sincerely thanked the woman. We sat down and ordered from the menu. I got a chocolate protein shake; I didn't catch what the others ordered except for the cat, who ordered a literal bucket of fish.

After the server brought the food and went away, Lucy piped up and introduced the two of us. "My name is Lucy, and my large, armored friend here is Jai. Nice to meet you!" (I noticed that the words 'large' and 'armored' drew the boy's attention, as well as a concerned look, for a fraction of a second before it was wiped from his expression) The two were apparently starving, as they attacked their food as soon as it was within arm's reach with gusto. Between mouthfuls of fish, the cat replied with an 'Aye!'. They finished their meal, then flagged the server down and ordered more food. They attacked the next round of food again with as much zeal as last time, which made Lucy and I share a look. I cleared my throat to get their attention and ventured a question, "Natsu and Happy, was it?" The only sign of acknowledgement was a nod from the cat and a hurried 'Yes' around a mouthful of food from the redhead. Lucy smiled nervously and put her hands out in a reassuring gesture and told them they didn't have to rush, that we weren't in a hurry.

Food was flying everywhere and some landed on her forehead. She quickly wiped it off then grew serious and added that she had figured out what was going on earlier: "Apparently, the man we met earlier was using magic – a charm spell that hypnotized the women in town into thinking they were in love with him." She pulled a large book out of a small backpack I hadn't seen her carrying earlier and flipped to a page that showed the ring that I saw Mr. Popular was wearing earlier. "Charm spells have the power to attract other people to you against their will, but they've been banned for _years_! No one even sells them anymore." She adopted a tired suspicious gaze and said, "He must have gone through a _lot_ of trouble to get his hands on it. What a creep! I TOTALLY fell victim to his spell, but I snapped out of it thanks to you barging into me when you did. I really can't thank you guys enough."

She smiled and pointed at herself, "I may not look it, but I'm a wizard too! But, I haven't joined a guild or anything yet … oh I should probably explain, huh? See, guilds are these organizations that wizards come together to share information and find work and things like that. Unfortunately, you aren't considered a fully-fledged wizard _until_ you become a member of a guild." (Here, she must have pulled out her inner fangirl for the next part) "But there are _**tons**_ of them all across the world! I've heard it's tough to get into the more popular ones, and the guild I want to join is the most popular one there is!" She sighed in contentment at the thought. "Yeah … they're the greatest and they're always featured on Sorcerer Weekly … OH, IF I COULD ACTUALLY CONVINCE THEM TO LET ME IN, I THINK THAT I'D JUST ABOUT DIE!" Natsu and Happy shared a look at that. Natsu finally replied with, "Well … yeah?" Lucy calmed down a bit and waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, I'm sorry … all of this wizarding talk must have sounded like a bunch of gibberish to you, huh?" She fixed a gaze on the two of them, "I'm definitely going to join the guild someday and that I'm going to take all kinds of exciting jobs and make tons of money!" Natsu, with a full mouth swallowed partially and asked "Oh, yeah?" Happy merely tiredly stated that she talked a lot.

It was then that I remembered that the two of them came here to try to find somebody; this was where I found another point of entry into the conversation. "You guys were looking for an – 'Igneel', right? Am I pronouncing that right? You were shouting the name earlier." Natsu swallowed hard and nodded; he explained that they had heard a rumor that a salamander would be coming through this town, so they came here to see him. It turned out it was somebody else. Happy chipped in, "Yeah, no kidding! That guy didn't even look like a salamander at all!" (Now that I was able to actually hear the small … creature … clearly, from his voice, he seemed to be quite young yet. I couldn't tell how he was able to talk or fly though; although, I couldn't exactly rule out anything yet about this place I found myself in; it could be more magic at work for all I knew) Natsu glumly added that he doubted that he could even breathe fire at all like a real dragon. That brought me out my musing. Lucy and I shared another look. "Uhh … ? I don't get it, your friend Igneel looks like a dragon?"

They looked at me for a second. "No, no … you got it all wrong. See, he doesn't _look_ like a dragon, he _is_ one." At this, Lucy could only make a confused noise. Happy chimed in, "Aye! Igneel is a real life fire dragon!" Needless to say, Lucy, Mira, and I were all taken aback at this revelation. "WHY WOULD A FIRE DRAGON SHOW UP IN THE MIDDLE OF A TOWN?!" The two just blinked blankly and had nothing to add. She told them that it was totally ridiculous. She then put down some kind of paper currency, (Which I noticed _weren't_ credits) and got up stating that she had to get going and told them to enjoy the rest of their lunch and that maybe she'll see them around. Before she could get more than a few feet away, they both quickly got up and kneeled down on their knees and thanked her for the food. "CUT IT OUT! YOU'RE EMBARASSING ME!" She placated them by saying that it was cool, they helped her out earlier and begged for them to call it even. Natsu and Happy shared a look and commented that they felt bad, that they weren't even trying to help her and acknowledged that they owed her something ... he lit up like he had a good idea, (Which I'm coming to think are rare occurrences, but whatever. They seemed like a capable duo otherwise) and offered Lucy the signed placard that was given to him by the creep earlier. She promptly declined.

As she walked out the door, I followed her and asked if I could tag along for a bit as I didn't know anyone else in the town. She looked at me for a second, then shrugged and stopped so I could catch up. (Not that I couldn't if I had really wanted to, I was just being polite) I waved to Natsu and Happy who merely waved as they were still shoveling food into their gaping maws. About ten minutes later found us in a park sitting on a stone bench. Naturally, the conversation turned towards magic, and she reached back and got out a magazine I recognized. "Wait, you have one of those as well?" I held out a hand and in a blue glow materialized mine to compare; it looked a little beaten up and worse of wear compared to hers, but it was the same issue. This surprised her. "Wait, you can use magic as well? What guild do you belong to?" I paused for a second to think of a suitable response; I was trying to remember all of what I've learned today about wizards and their guilds. I eventually responded, "I haven't joined a guild yet, so I'm in the same boat as you. As for my magic … I'm not that good at it yet." We high-fived as we found something in common then shared a moment of sadness.

We opened up our magazines and each started reading. Most of which went _well_ over my head, what with references to cultural, political, and magical matters that I couldn't begin to understand. All of a sudden she laughed a little and commented, "Oh boy, it looks like the Fairy Tail guild is out there causing trouble again! A Devon bandit clan was wiped out, but _seven_ homes were destroyed?!" She laughed and commented on how they might be going overboard. (Apparently destroying public property is a common happening for this guild – wait, did she say Fairy Tail?) She flipped another few pages and got to a centerfold that held the images of a beautiful white haired woman in a two piece swim suit. She turned to me and showed me the girl; she looked in her late teens, perhaps eighteen or twenty. "Ah! The centerfold's Mirajane! She's _so_ pretty." (Mira, who was reading along with me, took note of this and said that she agreed with Lucy's comment; Mirajane _was_ pretty) I found that I couldn't disagree.

Lucy sighed and pensively wondered aloud how she could become a member … but she sat straight up with a look of determination in her eyes and stated that she would become a member of Fairy Tail. I saw an opportunity and took it, "Wait, you're looking for Fairy Tail as well? A … friend of mine … told me about it and strongly recommended that I go join it. I've only recently come here and have been having trouble finding it." This got her full and undivided attention. "New plan: we're going to find the Fairy Tail guild and join up together!" She thought for a second before amending with glee, "They're totally the coolest guild ever!"

It was then from behind a tree just outside sensor range came a voice, "What was that? You two want to join Fairy Tail?" The creep from before popped into view and startled Lucy who on reflex shouted the name Salamander. He made a thoughtful pose and stated that he had been looking all over for her. He looked at her and furthered the train of thought by saying that he wanted to personally invite her to the party he was having on his yacht tonight. Lucy extended an arm and leveled an accusatory finger at him and said in a cross tone, "Your charm spell won't work on me! That magic's weakness is awareness; it doesn't work on people if they know you're using it." He merely made a one armed shrug in the air and stated that it was just as he thought: she was a wizard the moment he laid eyes on her. "No matter. The invitation still stands." Lucy crossed her arms and turned away. "Well you can _forget it_. I wouldn't be caught _dead_ at a party being thrown by a CREEP like _you_." He rushed a hand to his breast in an approximation of pain, acted wounded, and asked why she would call him that. Lucy turned her head and leveled a look at him. "Your spell? Using it to make yourself popular?" He waved his hand dismissively in the air, winked at her, and said, "Don't be mad, my dear. It's all in good fun. I just wanted to feel like a celebrity at my own party. Can you blame me?" Lucy shrugged, not buying into it. "This just proves that famous wizards can be big idiots."

I caught a glint in his eyes that I didn't like as he turned around fully. "You two are looking to join the Fairy Tail guild, are you not?" _Uh oh._ This caught her off guard. He held his jaw with a hand and smirked. "Have you ever heard of Salamander – one of Fairy Tail's wizards?" She looked at him as if he was crazy. "Well, yeah!" She turned fully towards him and pointed at him. "You're telling me YOU'RE him? You're THAT Salamander?!" The man nodded, "That's correct. And, if you want to join I could probably put in a good word for you and your friend there." _Aaand she's hooked._ She came up to him and said with what I could swear were hearts in her eyes, "I would love to go to your party tonight!" He pulled back somewhat and commented in such a low voice that only I could hear him remark that that was easier than he thought. _I KNEW IT! He's shady as fuck!_ _Watch him, Jai! He might try something on her!_ I narrowed my gaze at him. 'Not with _me_ here he won't. Not if he likes how his face looks.' With star-struck eyes, Lucy asked him if he could really get us into Fairy Tail, no kidding. He shrugged. "I don't see why not, but you two can't say anything about the charm spell." Lucy waved a hand and said that she wouldn't say a word. He turned around and snapped his fingers and disappeared into the sky in purple flames.

I walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Lucy …" She raised a fist to chest level as she stared at the retreating form. "I know, I know, he got me; I was pseudo charmed! But, hooray! He's going to get us into Fairy Tail! We just have to keep our mouths shut and be nice to that _sleazeball_ until then!" I persisted, "Lucy, this is most definitely a trap." She looked at me confidently and said, "I know. It's ok, I have these!" She held up a leather packet which contained a small number of masterfully crafted large golden keys and a small handful of silver keys, each of unique design. Unconvinced, I raised an eyebrow and said, "So, you have golden keys. And?" I didn't know what was so important about those keys. "I'm not trying to say you can't take care of yourself – that much I can tell already – but what help are a really fancy set of keys going to do if you get into a jam?" She looked at me with a curious expression and carefully looked me over. "You really aren't from around here, are you?" I laughed nervously and scratched the back of my neck absentmindedly. _No …_ w _hat was her first clue?_ "I … guess you could say that. So, what are the keys? Do they do anything, or are they just for some kind of no doubt really expensive decoration?"

She chuckled a little at that. "Well, yeah … the keys can get rather expensive – especially the golden ones – but it's well worth the cost. See, I'm what is known as a Celestial wizard. People like me can use these keys to summon various creatures and such to help us out. They are all unique and have different personalities and abilities. When I first get a key, I contact the spirit connected to the key and enter into a contract with them. I ask what days they are available, for how long, that kind of thing and I go from there; see, spirits have lives of their own. I can't just expect them to be at my beck and call when I need something. My goal as a Celestial wizard is to get strong keys such as the Zodiac Keys – which would be the gold ones here – of which I have three at the moment." At that, she brought a hand down and patted the leather packet on her belt with pride. As I took a moment to absorb the information, she took the opportunity to ask a question of her own. "So, you used magic earlier … can you tell me about it?"

I thought for a moment before responding, "Well … first of all, I have _two_ types of magic. But since I don't really have a grasp of one of them yet, I'm forced to rely on just the one. I can use magic to summon various weapons to use at my disposal." I put my hands together like I was showed, and concentrated. Soon enough, a DMR spawned into my grasp. (Having stored it earlier, not wanting it to get lost somehow in the crowd) She inspected it visually for a moment before asking, "Is that … some kind of rifle? Where's the lacrima?" There's that word again … "Eh, my weapons don't use them?" She shot me with a questioning look before changing topics. She could tell I was hiding something. She looked critically at the gun for a moment; analyzing it, more like. I looked at her and cocked my head, wondering what she was thinking. "The magic you can use seems to be some form of requip magic, but I haven't seen or heard of the like before. It must either be very old or brand new. I know of only a couple of types of requip magic … they're called The Knight, and The Gunner; the former type lets the user summon different types of armor that are imbued with magic, and the latter type lets the user summon different types of guns, and I'd be tempted to just call your magic that but, as I have already said … I have never seen weapons like this before. Also, what does that say on it? That middle part? 'UNSC property'? What's that mean? Is UNSC some kind of guild you were a part of? I can also see that word on your armor too." I was forced into a pause for a moment; I hadn't thought of it like that. I guess that wasn't that far from the truth.

However, that didn't change the fact I wasn't ready to reveal that little detail yet. "That's not all I can do." She squinted at me for a second before allowing the change in topic. I found a dead tree nearby and tried to use my Crash magic on it, only to make a large hole in it with my fist. I pulled it out and looked at it for a second before looking over to her. "Uh … hold on. I can do this. That wasn't it." I tried again with the same results, but this time, I managed to punch the tree cleanly in half. The top half fell unceremoniously to the ground with a clamor. Oops. Damn; this magic stuff is tricky. She was understandably surprised. "Holy cow! Just how strong are you?" Well, at least she wasn't asking questions about the UNSC now; although, by the look in her eyes, something told me this wasn't the end of that particular line of questioning.

A short while later, I was sitting in the bedroom of a hotel room Lucy had rented for a short time while she changed in the bathroom to get ready for the party on party-boy's yacht. Why she couldn't just find and change in a public restroom is beyond me, but … whatever; it's her money. While she was taking her time doing … whatever it was she was doing in there, I took the time to go over my holo-menu in depth. It appeared that there were many items that I wasn't able to spawn yet. Conveniently, those items were highlighted in red and had a little symbol nearby with a number. After a little digging, I realized where I knew that symbol from, it was on the left side of my magic meter, although I just hadn't taken the time to look at it yet. One mental headslap later, I noticed that the value of some of them greatly exceeded the maximum amount of magic energy I could currently safely use. Most of the Covenant weapons were in that particular category; something about them being very complex, I bet. I noted that Forerunner weapons were mixed among them as well. Not that I was too surprised, that actually made sense when I thought about it; the Covenant based much – if not all – of their technology off the Forerunners, so it would follow the two would be similarly complex. Wondering what else I could spawn, I took a look at non-combat oriented items, thoughts on something … covert.

When Lucy eventually came out, she was wearing a beautiful sparkling white dress that … well, it accentuated her curves. (I'm a soldier, damn it. I don't know the _first thing_ about dresses; all I know is that she just looked stunning.) I beckoned her over to the table and summoned a briefcase I found. Inside were various surveillance and long range communications technology used most commonly by law enforcement and military personnel. I extracted a listening device that was designed to mold to the shape around the outer ear close to the skull, once there we would be able to hear what the other was saying. A tech explained it to me once … something about vibrations of the jaw bone being turned into a transmissible signal; there was even a button she could press to reply. It was a kind of radio, but much more covert in design and implementation. ONI must have had a hand in its design. It sure _looked_ like something they would commission.

She looked at the device I offered and asked, "What's this?" I offered it to her and said, "This is so I can communicate with you when we're not near one another; plus, I can track you if you need any help. If you do, say the word and I'll be in there as soon as I can. Put this on around the back of your ear. It'll change color to match your skin tone. Just talk, and I'll be able to hear anything you say. It's small enough that most people shouldn't notice it; and those that _do_ get close enough to discover it ... you should probably slap." (Especially in a revealing dress like the one she was wearing, but I kept that little bit to myself. I'll admit it, we were enjoying the view.) As soon as it touched her hand it changed to a flesh tone. "Oh wow, this is really cool. And you will be able to hear me?" As she fixed it to her ear, I isolated the only com channel I recognized and activated it. "Testing, one two three, can you hear me?" She winced, and I played with the audio until it was a more appropriate level. "Yes, I think so … man, this is weird. Cool, but weird." I closed the briefcase and despawned it. She looked at me and asked, "Don't you need one of those as well?" I tapped the side of my helmet, "I already do. I have that, and more." She futzed with the device behind her ear for a second before she stood up and looked me over. "What, aren't you going to change into something more appropriate?" I looked at her and replied, "What do you mean, this is what I usually wear to fancy shindigs. Especially if certain people wish to … _dance_." She squinted her eyes at me, sensing the subtext.

About thirty minutes later found the two of us on a yacht in the town harbor. The ship was large, to put it simply. Quite small, compared to what I was used to, but whatever. It was a highly decorative, blue-colored yacht with at least four floors visible from the outside. It was composed in part of wood and had dozens of windows that were located on all sides of the ship. The deck of the ship was composed of some species of wood; anything more than that, and I'd need to start asking rather pointed questions that I wasn't quite in a position to defend. I decided to peruse the decks to get a better understanding of the layout of the ship; while it was rather simplistic in comparison to a pelican or a seraph (Nevermind a properly space-worthy vessel), it utilized technology/magic unfamiliar to me and so must be studied. (Man, I could really use Alice right about now) Something definitely smelled rotten about this whole party, and I was going to get to the bottom of all this. Over the com link, I heard Lucy walk over to what I assumed to be a buffet table and after hearing her get a plate, she began to sample whatever was on display. Soon, however, I heard Salamander's voice invite her to a room down below for a wine tasting.

Meanwhile down below deck, most of the lights looked busted or otherwise rendered nonfunctional due to extreme neglect and disrepair with what looked like a single functioning light at the far end of the hallway. Good thing I could see in the dark on my own. I passed a few rooms that had shackles attached to the walls, with unconscious women held within them. I went to help by opening one of the metal doors blocking the rooms, but they were barred from the other side. I was about to remove the obstacles by force when I heard footsteps. Apparently, I had by then snooped my way into a restricted section of the ship because six men came around the corner at the end of the hall I was going down and when they saw my silhouette, they stopped and screamed intruder then brandished simple weapons pointed in my direction.

They looked like they were simply hired thugs, and judging by how they carried themselves and how they held their weapons, I knew they had little to no formal training, much less years of combat experience. They wore nothing more protective than denim. What a pity … for them. I smiled and equipped the Holographic Projection armor enhancement. This was going to be _fun_. In the darkness I simply slowly walked towards the group and stopped about twenty feet ahead of them, still cloaked in inky blackness. "What seems to be the trouble, gentlemen?" (It never hurt to at least _try_ to be polite, even to one's enemies; that is, assuming they weren't _trying_ to kill you on sight. Then all bets were off, obviously.) One of them muscled his way to the front of the group. He must've been the head of this little band because he carried himself with an air of arrogance. "You! Who are you?" The man then chuckled slightly, "Well, actually, never mind … it doesn't really matter anyway. You've seen too much already. While we **could** just let you go … I think I have a better idea. It's been too long since some of the boys and I had a good fight. You know what? I think we'll just kill you and dump you overboard. Besides, the boss is only looking for pretty _women_ ... not your sorry ass. Sorry to be the one to tell you this bub, but you're not going to make the cut." One of the thugs levelled a crossbow at my head and fired. The leader shouted, "You idiot! We were going to have fun with this one!"

Of course, the bolt missed and instead imbedded itself into the visor of my hologram. As it fell backward and fragmented before it vanished, I took advantage of the temporary low-level cloaking ability it afforded its user and reappeared right behind the confused and surprised group, who was looking around the hall for my corpse. I lightly tapped the two closest to me on their shoulders, and as they turned to face me, I quickly placed my hands on the backs of each of their heads and brought them together with a satisfying sound before they fell to the floor alive but unconscious. I looked at the two crumpled figures on the ground for a second, musing. I guess I'll have to put on the kiddie gloves while fighting from now on … don't want to accidentally kill anyone. Unless the situation warranted it that is, but I had the distinct impression that would be a rare occurrence.

The rest of them scrambled about five feet forward and turned towards me with looks of confusion and fear, but mostly fear. "What the ... How are you … When did you … I shot you in the head!" One of the thugs closer to me snapped out of his stupor, brandished a large knife, and came at me. I easily dodged his blade by redirecting his hand as he drew close and he passed me to my right. I grabbed his hand and forcibly twisted his arm into an uncomfortable positon behind him before I tore the blade out of his hand (Hearing some of his fingers snap like dry kindling in the process) and knocked him unconscious with the handle. Not needing two blades, I tossed the knife up, caught it by the blade, and threw it up to the guard into one of the steel walls.

The three remaining thugs (Including the leader) looked around in shock as they had lost half of their number in as many seconds. One of the minions raised a crude metal bat and charged at me. After ducking a _blatantly_ telegraphed swing, he was easily dispatched with a suckerpunch to the belly which threw him into the bulkhead before he fell to the ground and slumped over, knocked out. The two remaining looked at each other. The one who had shot at me dropped his crossbow and now favored brass knuckles while the leader merely brought his fists to bear and adopted a fighter's stance.

I just couldn't help it; the sight made me double over laughing. The leader, _clearly_ annoyed at this, indignantly spat, "What? What, are you laughing at … US?!" I continued laughing and had to hold a finger up before I could continue. "Sorry, sorry. It's … it's just that the fact that you two _seriously_ thought that it would be a good idea to fight me _hand to hand_ is … well, laughable at best; cute, even. But hey, it's _your_ hospital bill." The one with brass knuckles made a show of punching his fists together with a metallic clink, obviously an attempt at intimidation, and growled low in anger, "Oh, we're going to pound you into a bloody pulp! You've just signed your death warrant, asshole!"

Thusly provoked, they charged at me. The minion was faster than his superior (Who had a limp) and came at me at a sprint, with his brass knuckles leading the charge. I easily grabbed his leading hand with my left hand, stopping it cold, and enclosed it around his smaller one and squeezed. Hard. The man howled in agony as what was now so much fleshy pulp at the end of his wrist dangled limply amid crumpled brass, bone fragments, and blood. However, before I could temporarily put the man out of his misery by knocking him out with a right hook, a powerful kick connected with the right side of my neck. Or … it would have, had my suit not possessed a strong shield. The sudden blue-white glow of my shield flaring caught the man unawares and distracted him into a momentary pause, allowing me some action. I grabbed his leg with both hands and swung him bodily like an oversized baseball bat into the howling man to my left and then into the wall, knocking the both of them out. I took a quick peek at my shield strength before it regenerated: it read about one eighth missing; not bad for an untrained, unaugmented, leanly built _Human_. I made a show of dusting myself off as Mira commented on the 'fight'. I brought out an M6 and shot them individually into deeper unconsciousness. Doubletap for safety. Feeling merciful, I shot the man's hand a few times so he would have a little reprieve for a while after he woke up to seek adequate medical attention.

I walked back to the rooms I had passed earlier and after bracing myself with a foot on the wall, ripped the first door out and gently leaned it against a wall. This jarred some of the women awake and while fearful at first, I reassured them. "It's ok ladies, I'm here to help. Now, all of you … hold still. I don't want to cut any of you as well." After drawing my combat knife, I went around and cut the ties that bound each woman to the walls before leading them to the other room to do the same. With a few good punches and bending the material outwards, I opened a large hole in one of the outside walls above the waterline and gestured towards the town of Hargeon, about a half mile away. Some of them started to complain and whine about having to get wet. I was getting annoyed, and frankly was toying with the idea of just throw them off the ship and be done with it, until one women came up to me, thanked me for my help, bunched up the dress she was wearing as much as she could, pinched her nose and jumped in and started swimming to shore. After that, they calmed down and one by one followed suit.

Over the com link I suddenly heard Lucy say, "What do you think you're doing? I know what you're up to … you're trying to use sleep magic!" Salamander's voice laughed and said, " _Very_ impressive, my dear." Lucy sighed roughly. "Look, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Yes. I really want to join the Fairy Tail guild with my friend. But I'm not going to _date_ you to make that happen." Salamander haughtily laughed and said, "You're quite a handful, aren't you?" I heard the sound of fabric rustling. I whispered into the com link, "Don't worry Lucy, I'm on my way." I asked Mira if she could bring up the FOF tag on the device I gave Lucy earlier and it showed up not too far away. Good. I began to run as fast as the design of the ship would let me. I heard her gasp and asked what was going on.

Sinister laughing could be heard in unfamiliar voices. Salamander welcomed her aboard his ship and advised her to behave herself until we made it to somewhere called Bosco. In a darker tone, he added that she shouldn't make him angry. "YOU'RE GOING TO BOSCOW?! BUT YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO GET ME INTO FAIRY TAIL!" Salamander made a noise reminiscent of a sneer and said, "Forget it. I only said that so I could lure you here and make you one of our slaves." She gasped, "How could you!? You're going to kidnap all of these girls?" _Great. So there are more._ I heard more laughs and voices that I didn't recognize saying that they got a big haul this time. Angrily, I heard Lucy go, "Why you …" and a jangle of something metallic. _Her keys_. _Shit's about to go down!_

I was about to try and find a map of the ship to get to her faster, when I felt the same sensation I felt earlier … only this time, it was an order of magnitude greater. I could barely control it; I can only assume it was feeding off of my sense of urgency or fear, perhaps a mixture of both. I punched the wall and a good hole opened up before me. I grinned sadistically, seeing what it was trying to tell me and started punching my way through the ship, not caring one bit of what structural damage I was doing. (I had by now learned to trust the feeling) Over the com link, I heard Lucy grunt as something made impact with her and Salamander comment on how something were gate keys. "So, you're a celestial wizard? Only the wizard who made the contract can use this magic; so, these are absolutely useless to me." He made a mock 'whoops' and from what I heard, I can only assume he threw them off the ship.

I heard Lucy start to cry in anger. "You use magic to take advantage of others! You're the _worst_ wizard alive!" On my radar, something big was beginning to show up above me. I took a second to switch to thermal imaging and I could see a large ball of red was coming down towards the room in front of me which held Lucy. I burst through the wall and tackled Lucy before extending my shield around her just in time before a fireball burst through the ceiling in a hail of heat and splinters. We recognized the party crasher: it was Natsu! He looked like he was about to adopt a fighting stance before he practically turned green, fell to his knees, groaned, and held his stomach before mumbling how this was a bad idea. Lucy shouted, "You are SO lame!" From above I saw happy who asked what the two of us was doing here. Lucy and I quickly filled Happy in. I asked Happy, "Uh, since when do you have wings?" The cat simply said that he'd get to that later. Happy flew down, wrapped his tail around Lucy and flew off, leaving everyone there save Natsu gawking, me included.

Salamander was the first to recover and pointed to the hole in the roof. "Well? What are all of you doing there standing around for? GET HER! We can't let them report this to the Magic Council!" He used a technique he called Prominence Wind which looked like pillars of purple fire shooting and twisting into the night sky trying to shoot them down. Using the zoom feature, I watched as Happy skillfully dodged them all and made them collide making a huge blast of purple fireworks. Salamander cursed and muttered at how fast the cat was.

Meanwhile, Natsu had gotten up, greeted me, and we got into a back-to-back fighting stance behind the would-be kidnappers who were turned around and staring into the night sky. Natsu punched his fists together and shouted at them to get their attention. _He doesn't look too well, is he sick?_ _He looks kinda green around the gills._ I then heard Salamander say, "Forget the cat and the girl. Let's continue on to Boscow!" Natsu caught a kick from a thug. "The Fairy Tail guild …" This drew the attention of Salamander. "… You're a member?" Next thing any one of us knew, there was water _everywhere_. It was so violent that it tore the ship apart and caused a tidal surge that crashed its' way a few hundred feet ashore leaving everyone involved groaning in pain amongst ship pieces and other wreckage wondering why they were on somewhat dry land.

I came to under a section of trashed ship and easily pushed it off of me and heard Lucy talking crossly with someone nearby. I made my way around wreckage until I was within sight of her. She was talking to some sort of giant mermaid floating a few feet above the soggy ground holding a large decorative blue and white jar. "What's the big deal?! You think you could've tried not to sweep ME up with the ship?!" The mermaid only made an unconvincing claim of how it was only an accident and that she didn't mean to get the _ship_. Lucy took exception to this. "What, you were AIMING at me!?" The mermaid smiled slightly, turned around and stated that Lucy shouldn't call her for a while as she was going on a weeklong vacation with her _boyfriend_. She then turned her head slightly and looked at Lucy before adding that he was _hot_ before disappearing in a flash of light. 'So, eh … Mira? Do you have anything to add to this? You know, to help make it make sense?' _Nope. I've got nothing._

I looked around and saw that people were gathering and wondering aloud how a ship of this size could just be thrown into port like this. I'm going to go on a limb and say it had something to do with the giant floating mermaid that _had_ to have a pissing match with Lucy. I heard Lucy exclaim Natsu's name, which caused me to turn around. I saw that he had somehow gotten on top of what was left of the ship and looked down upon the mass of people that had crewed the ship along with Salamander. "So, you claim to be a member of the Fairy Tail guild?" I heard Salamander state, "So, what's it to you? Go get him, men!" They all jumped at him and shouted 'sir!' Natsu took off his red cloak. "Let me get a closer look at your face!" As the thugs closed in on Natsu, I heard Lucy cry out," Watch out!"

By the time the two of us met back up properly, Happy suddenly appeared between us, piped up and said, "Don't worry about him. I should've probably told you guys earlier, but he's a wizard too!" Lucy gasped at this – evidently surprised – but I had kind of already guessed what with the giant fireball crashing through the ceiling and all without him getting so much as a scratch.

A few thugs finally came within range of Natsu who simply backhanded them out of the way and shouted, "My name is Natsu, I'm a Fairy Tail wizard, and I've NEVER seen you before!" Erstwhile Salamander gasped and Lucy said with a hint of disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me, Natsu is a _Fairy Tail_ wizard?!" I heard one of the crew shout, "That mark on his arm! This guy's the real deal, Bora!" Bora shouted, "Don't call me that, you fool!" Happy frowned and crossed his arms before making a highly displeased expression. "I know that name; that's Bora the Prominence. Rumor has it that he was kicked out of the Titan Nose wizard guild a couple of years ago because of bad behavior." Natsu had jumped down to where Bora was and was walking towards him. "I have no idea what you're trying to do buddy, and I don't care if you're a good guy, bad guy, or what … but I'm not going to let you dirty the Fairy Tail guild's name!"

Bora smirked. "Oh, and what are you going to do about it, are going to try and stop me?" He launched a Prominence Typhoon attack at Natsu and he was engulfed in purple flames. Lucy shouted after Natsu in concern. She made to go after him, but I held an arm out to stop her. Bora and his men were watching the blaze as Bora shrugged and stated, "That's how it goes: the bigger the talk, the weaker the man." He turned around to walk away when Natsu expressed his distaste. "Ugh, this is SO gross! Are you _sure_ you're really a fire wizard? Because these are the _nastiest_ flames I've ever tasted!" Everyone watched as the fireball that had engulfed Natsu imploded and Natsu could be seen grinning like a madman. "Thanks for the grub, poser." Someone frantically asked, "What's going on here, just who is this kid?" Happy grinned sadistically. "Fire magic doesn't work on Natsu." Lucy and I stared at the scene unfurling in front of us. "I've never seen anything like that!" She then turned to me, "Jai, how are _you so calm?!_ " I simply shrugged and replied, "I kind of already guessed he was a wizard beforehand; what's happening now, while surprising in its exact nature, wasn't entirely unexpected."

Natsu started walking towards the group of men and punched his fists together; I briefly saw some kind of draconic sigil. "Now I have a fire in my belly that's raging to get out!" He took a stance before leaning back and cupping his hands in front of his mouth in a manner similar to what I've seen some glassblowers use (Minus the tube and the glass, of course) and shouted "Fire dragon's roar!" and exhaled an incredible amount of bright red flames that destroyed what was left of the ship, defeated most of the crew, and created a shockwave all in one fell swoop. The smoke cleared and Bora could be seen descending on a ring of purple fire. One of the crew that survived the blast said somewhat timidly, "Hey Bora, I swear I've seen this guy before! That red hair and the scaly looking scarf … there's no doubt about it – he's gotta be the real one!" Lucy exclaimed the name Salamander as Natsu wreathed his arms in fire. (At this point, I'm thinking she's just doing it as a knee-jerk reaction) "I hope you guys are paying attention because I'm going to show you what a Fairy Tail wizard can do! Here I come!" Natsu leapt towards Bora, who fired off a few weak attacks which Natsu easily dodged, jumped into the air and punched Bora farther into town through a few buildings as he went. Well damn, I kinda wanted to do that.

Lucy asked Happy, "So, he eats fire then attacks with it?! But how does he do it? Is it some kind of spell?" Happy smirked at the destruction. "He has dragon lungs that allow him to breathe fire, dragon scales to help him dissolve the fire, and dragon claws for attacking with fire. His brand of fire magic is one that allows him to take on all of the qualities of a dragon. It's an ancient spell that's rarely used anymore." Duly surprised, it took me a second to respond. "Seriously?" Happy looked up at me and said, "This particular magic was originally used to deal with dragons; it's called Dragon Slayer magic. Igneel was the one who taught it to him."

This was a lot of information to take in, but I didn't really have a choice, so I accepted it as fact. It seemed like there was a lot of that going on lately for me. I looked back at Natsu who caught a large ball of fire that was just launched at him by Bora who caught the fireball and ate it. He wiped his mouth and grinned widely and told Bora, "Hey, you're not doing too bad, but I'm about to cook you like a smoked fish!" This took Bora by surprise. "You're going to do **what** to me?!" Natsu wreathed fire around his fist and jumped at Bora shouting, "Fire Dragon's iron fist!" He made contact with Bora's face, who was then violently launched through the town and flew right into the bell tower of what looked like an official building of some sort … (Perhaps town hall?) and shook the bell. Happy dismissively waved at Natsu and said, "Oh, don't be silly Natsu. Everybody knows that you smoke food with smoke, not fire!" All Lucy and I could do was looking at the now smoldering town of what _was_ Hargeon. I found my voice and exclaimed, "Oh wow! That was amazing! But he might have overdone it, you know, just a little bit …" Happy happily emitted an 'aye'. Lucy looked at him and said, "Oh shut it, cat!"

Pretty soon, I could hear sounds of shouting and many metallic boots growing closer and closer. Natsu grabbed each of us by the hand and hightailed it out of there going, "Oh crap! The army! We've gotta get out of here!" Lucy and I shouted, "Where the heck are you taking us?!" Natsu shot a look back at us and said, "Oh, just come on! You guys said you wanted to join Fairy Tail didn't you? So let's go!" Lucy and I shared a look and she smiled broadly, which was enough for Natsu who put it in overdrive until we were a couple of miles away from what was the port town of Hargeon.

 **[Well, well … it looks like our boy finally found some friends, eh? … Let's hope he can keep them.]**


	5. Rescue Mission

[Last updated: 04/23/18]

After we all finally got to the outskirts of Hargeon and away from their army, Natsu slowed down to a moderate pace and let go of us and we started walking down a dirt path that led roughly North by Northwest according to my HUD. Since the events in the town had taken up most of the day, the sky was taking on the vibrant colors of sunset off to the left. I relayed my concerns to Natsu about lodging for the night as I could tell we couldn't make the journey today, assuming we didn't continue through the night; either way I was ready. He looked at us, smiled, and gave me a thumbs up. "Nah, it's ok. See, there's this place I know not too far away from here we can rest for the night for a little money." At that, Lucy's face took on a dour expression. "And I suppose you need _me_ to pay for it?" She sighed. "Fine, yeah … I'll pay." I looked at her and said, "I _am_ sorry Lucy, I haven't been here long enough to make any money." She brightened up and waved dismissively at me, "No, you're fine. I could tell by just looking at you that you just got here. Just pay me back when you can, ok?" She turned to look at Natsu. "But _you._ ", she poked him in the back, "Why couldn't you pay for some of this? As I hear it, the wizards of Fairy Tail get their fair share of job requests!" Happy, who had been silent up till now, looked over at her and said, "We spent it all already on food on the way to Hargeon." Lucy and I face palmed. From what I've known of them thus far, that didn't seem too far-fetched.

About an hour after the sun had gone down, we closed in on a roadside building. I could tell it was one of those places where you prepaid at the front desk and they handed you an actual metallic key to a room; you know, the old-fashioned way. Though, the logic of the pricing system eluded me, and there was a mysterious symbol I could only surmise was their currency. After we went inside, I saw above the desk was a hand painted sign that read, "1500 per head per night". As Lucy paid the fee for us, Natsu and Happy received their key and sleepily climbed the stairs to the second level. (Which I correctly assumed were all rooms for rent) Lucy followed them upstairs to her room stretching and muttering how she needed a shower. I received my key and stored it before I went back outside and laid in the grass on my back looking up at the unfamiliar stars.

'Well, even if we can't place them … they still do look beautiful no matter what, right Mira?' _Yes … they do …_ I could tell she was deep in thought; she was currently running many complicated mathematical equations in parallel, or that's what it felt like. She was keeping herself busy. 'Mira … what are we going to tell them when they ask who we are and where we come from? I can't just keep dodging questions and giving half-truths indefinitely.' She was silent for a moment before responding. _Tell them what you can, but we don't completely know if they will be allies – though I hope they turn out to be, we could sure use some. If it turns out they are, we should tell them everything; just lay it all out. I can help you if you need it._ I stared out into the night sky for another ten minutes lost in thought before retiring to the room number that was ornately engraved onto the small metal key before carefully getting into bed and closing my eyes.

Fog. Fog was everywhere, obscuring my vision until I could only see a few feet ahead of me. I then noticed a figure running from out of the fog towards me … they were holding something out to their side, but parallel to their shoulders … and pointed at me. I then heard the distinctive electrical crackle of an energy sword being ignited.

I woke up in a cold sweat. _Jai! Jai, are you ok?_ _You've only been asleep for a few hours at most …_ I shook my head. "Did … did you see that as well?" _I saw something about a figure … and fog …_ I nodded at that, "Yes! That!" _What about it?_ "I … I don't know. It just feels me with a sense of dread …" _Well, it's over now. Can you try and go back to sleep?_ I shrugged and climbed back into bed. I ultimately didn't get back to sleep, however.

Come morning, I was the first one up and had returned the key and was sitting in the lobby waiting for my companions until they eventually showed up. As we followed the dirt road North by Northwest again, Natsu had taken lead and Lucy had fallen back to accompany me. She looked over to me and asked, "So … what was up with the voices I heard last evening over the thing you gave me? I heard some screaming." Natsu took interest at this and slowed down a bit to get closer before he asked for clarification. I quickly filled him in on what went on after our party split up. "As soon as I saw him, Bora never _did_ set well with me – and we all know how that ended up. So, while Lucy was above deck with the party, I went below deck to see if there was anything funny going on down below; if nothing else, it would disprove the funny feeling I had in my gut. As it turns out, I wasn't wrong; I eventually ran into some hired muscle as I was snooping below deck in a restricted section of the ship. They became aggressive when they saw me. I identified the threats, and neutralized them. After that I rescued the two rooms of captive women they were guarding under lock and key. There were about thirty to forty in all."

Lucy and Natsu shared a look of concern. "You don't mean…" I stepped in before they could assume any further. "No, I didn't kill them; I said _neutralized_ , not eliminated. They may die someday if they continue being thugs, but not because of the actions I took today." I thought for a moment before briefly amending what I had said, "Although … a few may require low level medical attention. Especially one individual in particular. I kind of crushed his hand." I smiled grimly at the thought of the men I had fought that night. Natsu smiled widely, oblivious of my body language. "Oh. Well that's good, you knocked them out then I take it?" I nodded. "Of a sort, yes." That reassured them. "All six of them." Natsu grinned wider and slapped me lightly on the back. Lucy meanwhile was staring at me incredulously. "SIX thugs!? Only six?! And they were armed, I assume?" Again, I nodded. I shrugged and said, "They were pretty easy to take down. They didn't have anything too dangerous, they were wielding pretty simple weapons: one had a crossbow and brass knuckles, another had a large dagger, a few had swords and a bat, and the leader _tried_ to come at me with fisticuffs." I punctuated that last one by impacting a fist into an open palm loudly. "They even wanted to kill me; it was cute … in a pathetic sort of way. I said they could _try_." Natsu made a sound of approval, "Heh, it sounds like you can do well in a fight. I think you'll fit right in at Fairy Tail."

Eventually, we came into a large town they called Magnolia. It had a population of sixty thousand inhabitants, and was a merchant city that had been proficient in magic since eras gone by. Such a reputation was supported by the fact that the town housed the strongest two guilds in the country. Magnolia possessed an enormous built-up area, extending to both sides of a large river that lazily split the town. Running through the town was a series of large roads, affording it a grid-like look. As we walked, I noted that the whole place felt western in style, with its buildings being mildly reminiscent of neat Medieval ones; a design scheme I've seen shared everywhere I've been so far. Located along the central road is a large cathedral nearby signs called Kardia Cathedral, one of Magnolia's most important and distinctive landmarks, if advertisements were to be believed. As we walked, I saw more signs for various businesses that were sprinkled throughout the town. They were typical landmarks such as the train station, the HalfCocor Hotel Bar, the Toy Store, the Lendis Magic Store, and the Fiore Transport Co.; meanwhile, on the town's Western border, was the entrance to a large park. However, it was the Northernmost part of the city that held our objective.

I followed Lucy and Natsu along the road leading to the Northern part of the town and found an imposing large, two-story high building. The building before me consisted of three floors and incorporated several architectonic styles: it took on a shape reminiscent of a pagoda, with each floor being smaller than the one below it and sitting on the latter's roof. The roofs also bore great resemblance to those of real pagoda, consisting of extremely long, arched tiles lined up one after the other and possessing simple curved protrusions jutting upwards on the building's angles. On the highest roof, topping the summit of the building, sat a simple, round and pointed dome, highly reminiscent of those seen on Arabian buildings, which bore a flag on its point. The roof below the one with the dome, the middle one, housed a large banner with Fairy Tail's symbol on it, held up by a pair of vertical poles. The building's large entrance again seemed Arabian in design, with its shape being reminiscent of that of the dome on the summit, and above it was the guild's name, topped by a protruding, stylized heart shape and flanked by a pair of carved fairies. Stylized heart shapes were also visible on the frames of the numerous, large pentagonal windows located on each floor, with the top floor housing smaller, arched windows partially covered by banners. We all stood before the building looking up at the Fairy Tail symbol on the flag above the door as Happy said, "Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Natsu kicked open the large wooden front doors and yelled, "We made it back alive!". Happy exclaimed, "We're home!".

Inside, most of the large first floor was one room occupied by quite a few wooden tables accompanied by long benches and short stools for people to sit at. Mugs of different liquids and plates of food were everywhere. There seemed to be at the very least fifty people alone on this floor; though there could easily have been more. From one of the tables nearby, someone who had rather unfortunate dentistry and quite prominent buck teeth commented towards our group in a _slight_ lisp (That was no doubt the result of said dentistry, or lack thereof), "So, I hear you went all out on Hargeon, Natsu. Just HAD to go starting troub-" The man was cut off from finishing his sentence by a kick to the face by Natsu which sent him flying across a few tables and eventually came to rest under wooden debris when a wall broke his momentum.

Lucy, shocked at this, turned to Natsu and said, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Natsu took no note of her outburst and strode to the nearest stool, planted a foot on top, and shook a fist at the man saying, "You lied about that Salamander! I'm going to kick your butt!" The apparent source of this information sat up through the debris covering him and retorted, "Don't get mad at me! I'm not the one to blame here, I was just passing along a rumor I heard!" This riled Natsu up who grew incredulous. "It was just a RUMOR!? You want to fight? LET'S GO!" One of the two was quickly thrown through a few tables as Happy shook a paw dismissively at Natsu and said, "Now, now, Natsu … I think you need to calm dow-" Happy, too, was cut off from his sentence when someone was thrown into him which sent the poor cat careening about the room like a little blue furry pinball. This was apparently more than enough for a full scale bar fight to ensue. It was just chaos as people were fighting, glass was shattering, tables were being broken … the works.

I looked over to Lucy as she witnessed this. She merely smiled and said more to herself than anything else, "Oh wow! I'm actually standing inside the Fairy Tail guildhall!" I noticed motion (That wasn't fighting … for now) as someone turned around and shouted with a fierce expression towards the door where we were standing, "So, Natsu made it back to the guild, HUH?!" (The look the man sported intimidated Lucy more than a little bit for a moment) He was quite noticeably clad in nothing but a pair of black boxers and a stylized metal cross on a silver chain around his neck. (I learned later that his name was Gray Fullbuster; one in a long line of names I would have to soon match with faces)

His most prominent feature is his spiky black hair. He has dark blue eyes, and his body is leanly toned and muscular. (And I learned slightly later that he had an intriguing habit of taking off the majority of his clothes … for some reason) As Gray started walking towards a nearby brawl, a women drinking what I assumed was wine from a small cask at a bar turned towards him and reminded him of his clothes. Gray turned towards _her_ with a stomp of a foot and shouted that he didn't have time for that.

The woman in question was Cana Alberona. She was a tall, slim, young woman with an ample bust and tan skin. She had long, mid-back length brown hair; two shoulder-length strands of hair framed her face, with the left one starting from a prominent, high fringe. She had large brown eyes and visibly long eyelashes. She possessed a very voluptuous figure, with large breasts and curvy hips. Her black Fairy Tail stamp was located on the lower left part of her abdomen, right above her hips. Her outfit consisted of a light blue bikini top which featured a camouflage pattern, a pair of Capri pants, with two bands hanging from each leg and a light belt covered in heart motifs loosely tied around the waist. The outfit is completed by wearing a pair of high-heeled sandals. She also had a pair of metal bracelets adorning her biceps, bearing an incision composed of many "A"s, and three simple, round metal bracelets on her right wrist. She also currently holds the record as the guilds heaviest drinker. She rolled her eyes as Gray jumped headlong into the fray and turned towards Lucy. "You see? I don't date any of the men around here because they don't have any class." … Right before picking up an entire barrel of what I assume to be alcohol and started chugging away on it, which Lucy could only gawk awkwardly at.

Meanwhile, Gray was making his way over to Natsu, kicking debris out of the way as he went. "Come here and fight me, Natsu!" Natsu, on the other hand was comically pounding the face of the man who had given him faulty information into a wall as he said that. He turned his head towards Gray and let the man's head fall from his grasp as he laid there groaning. "Not until you put some clothes on!" Off to our left, a large man could be seen walking towards Lucy and I in wooden sandals. This man was Elfman Strauss. He was a large, muscular man with tanned skin, whose height caused him to tower over most of his fellow guild members. His long white hair was kept styled upwards in long, wavy spikes, his dark eyes possessed no visible eyebrows and his rectangular, elongated face had a stitched scar running down its right side, crossing his right eye. His black Fairy Tail stamp was located on the left part of his neck. I would later consult Mira, and the two of us would place the clothes he wore as having an old Terran Japanese schoolboy look to them. His usual outfit resembled that worn by said stereotypical Japanese high-school hooligans: it consisted of a dark blue jacket with purplish blue inners, held closed on the front by a line of large buttons, with similar buttons on the sleeves' back and the zipper located on the high collar that was often left open. On the back of his usual jacket were stylized words in a language I couldn't identify, which were later translated to mean 'The Greatest'. The jacket itself seemed to usually be worn over a light red shirt, while sometimes seemingly replaced by an A-shirt covered in many vertical lines. His outfit was completed by loose pants matching his jacket which were held up by a simple belt, and wooden sandals – which were again reminiscent of old Terran Japanese culture; I believe records had them termed as Geta sandles – held in place by bands colored the same as his jacket's inners. (I quickly consulted Mira on all of the consistent Japanese culture that was seemingly prevalent in Earthland; we both agreed that it was weird, but were forced to accept it as we couldn't exactly do anything about it.)

Elfman said in a loud voice, "It's only noon, and you boys are whining like spoiled babies!" This only provoked the quarreling duo of Natsu and Gray into briefly teaming up and delivering a synchronized punch that threw him high into the air. Lucy gasped. "They knocked him out that easily?" I heard feminine laughter emanating from behind me, and as I turned around, I saw a man who was sitting on a bench relatively nearby who had a giggling woman sitting on each leg. He was apparently the resident lady-killer. He was hit in the head by what looked like an errant can of peaches, which caused the two women to check after him. In a moment, he had extracted himself from his seat saying that he was going to go fight … _but only_ to protect the two women he had enthralled, who practically swooned after him. [ **For real this time, no spell … well, you know what I mean** ] Lucy got out a book and a marker and made a large red **X** over his face; a reputation corrupted. The man in question was known as Loke. He is a young man of average height, distinguished by his delicate facial features and his orange hair. His hair was kept in a mildly short, spiky cut, with spiky strands covering his forehead, and other, longer ones jutting upwards from the top of his head. His hazel eyes were almost always covered by a pair of azure-tinted sunglasses with a thin frame. He wore a green coat with a wide collar, complete with prominent, spiky, brownish-white fur trimming lining the hood, over a light red shirt covered in many flower-like motifs, black pants and whitish sneakers, each adorned by a pair of light green stripes.

Lucy closed her book and put away her marker before looking around at the bar fight that was _still_ going on. "What the heck is wrong with these people? There's not one sane person in this whole place – save you and I of course." I noticed a yellow blip come up behind us on my motion tracker, which was going crazy over all of the constant motion on all sides. "Hello! Are you new here?" Lucy and I turned around to meet another beautiful woman who was carrying a wooden serving tray with thick glass beer mugs on it. She had shockingly white hair and a lovely sleeveless, ankle-length maroon dress with a pleated skirt. The chest is adorned by a large, pink bow, and similarly colored trimmings frame the rather ample neckline, acting as straps, and circle around the waist.

This was someone both Lucy and I recognized. (Albeit I only knew her from her centerfold, but that's neither here nor there) This was none other than Mirajane Strauss. She was a slim young woman of below average height. She had long, white hair which curled slightly at the ends, with two bangs framing her face and reaching down to her chest; her hairstyle's most distinctive trait is a short, upward ponytail obtained by gathering and tying the hair covering her forehead. Due to her always adopting such fashion, her hair seemed to have adapted to it, with the hair on her forehead remaining pointed upwards even when not tied. She had large blue eyes and a curvy, voluptuous body, with large breasts. Her white Fairy Tail Stamp is located on her left thigh. She was widely known for her beauty, being Fairy Tail's drawing card and having posed many times for Sorcerer's Weekly. Lucy started bringing out her fangirl again which merely made Mirajane emit a smile and a giggle of contentment.

Lucy adopted a look and gestured vaguely before asking if we should break this up. Mirajane merely looked around calmly with a smile. "What, this? It's always like this around here; I'd just leave them alone. Besides I-" Mirajane was cut off when Elfman was thrown bodily into her. Unable to bear the strain of her brother in her current stance, she fell to the floor with an unconscious Elfman pinning her to the ground. She smiled up at us and said, "It's kinda fun, don'tcha think?" right before passing out. Lucy began to freak out over Mirajane before Gray went flying into her … naked. I turned to the left and I could see Natsu standing on a nearby table grinning like a fox, twirling Gray's boxers around a finger. I heard him yell, "GIVE ME BACK MY UNDERWEAR, JERK!" Lucy, meanwhile, was screaming a little and was trying (Unsuccessfully) to cover her eyes as a deep blush colored her face; Gray came up to her and asked if he may barrow her underwear and she kicked him into a far wall shouting, "As if!" The resulting change in stance was too much for her to sustain and she began to fall before being caught by Loke bridal style saying, "These guys are all _so_ insensitive, a woman has needs-" before being punched out of the picture by Elfman (Who had apparently awoken) who shouted, "Real men speak with their fists, Loke!" before he too was sent out of the picture by a fiery punch from Natsu saying that he had told Elfman to butt out.

Sensing movement, I looked back over to the bar where Cana was resting her chin in her palm, clearly annoyed as she complained about not being able to have a relaxing drink. She got out of her chair, sat on the counter, and whipped out some kind of card which started to glow as she 'suggested' that they all knock it off. The card glowed brighter and projected an intricate circle of runes – a magic circle. Gray, too, readied his magic by placing a fist into his open palm in front of him which started glowing light blue, "Oh yeah, says who?" Things were beginning to heat up, and quickly. Elfman roared as he stuck his right arm into the air, producing a large circle and his arm glowed magically before it was encased in rock. Something similar happened to a ring Loke was wearing as he sighed and said that they could all be a nuisance. Natsu simply made flames up to his elbows and said, "I'm ready for you!" Clearly taken aback, Lucy adopted a worried look as she asked Happy if they always acted like this, which he unhelpfully said, "Aye!" It goes without saying, things were escalating quickly.

The next thing I knew, a large black foot slammed into the ground with a deafening roar. A dark figure loomed above in silhouette, yet on closer inspection, it looked like it was almost … stretched, unnaturally so, which afforded its' limbs and torso incredible length. It looked about thirty to forty feet high, with two large doglegged horns sprouting somewhere around his head. It sported a pair of rather long, lean, muscular arms which almost reached its' feet. It bellowed in a deep, resonating voice, " **WOULD YOU FOOLS STOP BICKERING LIKE CHILDREN!?** " Lucy was _immediately_ intimidated, who then clung onto my back in fear; I however, calmly spawned my DMR in a soft blue flourish and readied it but kept it down and at my side, wary for any hostile movements as I stared up at it. I hadn't exactly fought something of this scale before, but if it came to a fight I figured it couldn't be that hard. It looked humanoid enough that I knew that all I probably needed to do was just take out a vital point here and there then go for the head; _if_ it came to it, that is. Fortunately for me, it didn't. The figure's loud exclamation caused the whole population to stop in its' tracks and look up at it. I then noticed Mirajane come into sight near the figure. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were still here, master." _Wait, did she just say master?!_ The figure looked down to Mirajane.

I could hear Natsu laughing; he had gotten up on a table and was laughing with his fists on his hips in a proud stance. "Man, talk about a bunch of babies! Looks like I won this round you bunch of lo–" The rest of his statement was cut off as a giant foot from above came down on him and pinned him to the ground. The giant figure then looked over at us, " **IT SEEMS WE HAVE A COUPLE OF NEW MEMBERS?** " Lucy, who was by now so intimidated she was bordering on panic, couldn't stop staring at the figure who directed its question at us. I stepped forward about a foot and answered his question, "Yes, sir!" The giant smiled, then let out a roar before shrinking down into a very small man that looked to be (Currently) about three to four feet tall. This was Fairy Tail's guild master, Makarov Dreyar, who was an extremely short, elderly man. He had black eyes and was growing bald with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair, with a thick white mustache. He had a black stamp of the Fairy Tail guild mark that covered his entire chest area. He was dressed in a casual manner consisting of a white shirt with a black Fairy Tail stamp in the middle under an orange hoodie. His attire was completed with matching orange shorts and an orange and blue striped jester hat. He held out and arm and gave us an informal salute. "Pleased to meet 'cha!" Lucy incredulously blurted, "He's tiny! This little guy's really in charge around here!?" Mirajane laughed and formally introduced us to him.

Master Makarov promptly turned around and jumped up to the railing of the second story with the aim to land upon it. Unfortunately for him, he had timed the pitch of his spin incorrectly and impacted the railing not with his feet like he had intended, but rather with the back of his head before coming to a rest on the railing on his back. He groaned from the impact before standing up facing the crowd and cleared his throat before speaking to the crowd as a whole. "You've gone and done it again, ya bunch of clods!" He held up a large stack of papers in his left hand. "Just take a look at how much paperwork the Magic Council sent me this time! This is the biggest pile of complaints yet!" I deactivated the external mic and quickly asked Mira about her thoughts on this "Magic Council". _I don't know for sure, but this Magic Council must be some kind of ruling body or government that keeps tabs on the magic guilds … or something like that. I really don't have enough information to make a more accurate guess right now, sorry._

Master Makarov was positively shaking with emotion. "Have you lost your minds?! All you kids are good for is getting the higher ups mad at me!" He took a moment to pause and calm down. "However …" He leaned back and magically lit the stack of papers on fire. "… I say to heck with the Magic Council." He grunted and threw the fireball over the railing and into the airspace above the first floor where Natsu jumped at it and caught it in his mouth like some kind of light-ish red dog after a chunk of meat. He even made a chomping noise. Mira softly snorted in amusement at that inside my head. "Now listen up! Any power that surpasses reason still comes from reason, right? Magic isn't some kind of miraculous power – it is a talent that only works when the flow of energy inside of us and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect synchronization. To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus. It should take over your entire being and come pouring out of your soul! If all we do is worry about following the rules, then our magic will never progress! Don't let those blowhards on the Council scare you, follow the path you believe in …" He held up his right arm straight up above him, made a fist with only his thumb and index finger out and twisted his arm so that the back of his hand was facing the crowd. "… because that's what makes the Fairy Tail guild number one!" Everyone around us mirrored his action and cheered. Lucy and I shared a look; she smiled at me, and I nodded while grinning inside my helmet. This feeling that was being generated in the room right now … I don't think I've felt it before; it felt … inviting, nice even. I could feel my body relaxing at the mood; I wouldn't mind experiencing more moments like this one.

A small while later after everything had calmed down and the damaged furniture was replaced, everyone had ordered drinks and food and things were going back to a more peaceful mood. Lucy and I were off by Mirajane getting our guild marks. Mirajane wielded a comically large stamp that when she pressed it to the back of Lucy's left hand, the pad glowed, and when she removed it, Lucy had the Fairy Tail symbol on her hand in pink with a darker pink border around it. Mirajane smiled, "Now you're an official member of the Fairy Tail guild!" Lucy was staring at her hand and was off in her own little world for what was looking like a little while. Mirajane turned to me and asked where I would like _my_ stamp and what color it should be. "Could I have it on my left shoulder pauldron in royal blue and a black border?" I asked presenting my left shoulder towards her. "If that's where you want it, sure!" After a moment, "Umm, Mirajane? Will this penetrate to my skin underneath my bodysuit?" She said that if I wanted it to, she could do that. She pressed the top of the handle of the stamp with her thumb and pressed it against my armor, and I could feel a momentary warmth on my skin before it dissipated with the glow of the stamp's pad. I thanked her for the stamp and she congratulated me for officially joining the guild.

By that time, Lucy was over by Natsu yelling at him for some reason. (I wasn't really paying attention as I had been talking to Mirajane) As I walked over to them, I could see they were standing in front of a large cork board that was absolutely _covered_ with papers with a painted sign above that read, 'Request Board'. "I'm guessing this is where we get our jobs, right Natsu?" Natsu, who was lost searching the board, tore his attention away at the mention of his name. "Huh? Oh, yeah. This is where the jobs come in from people from around Fiore, but mostly from places in and around Magnolia." Fiore? Is that what they called the land we were in? I mentally shook my head to rid myself of the thought before I stepped forward to take a better look; time to make some money. There was a job that promised an amount of money with quite a few zeros after the number. But, I had no way to tell if that was a large sum of money or not; anyway after I skimmed the text, all that was required was to go get some book from this rich guy in a mansion. But I could tell that Natsu and Lucy were eyeing this one in particular, so I would leave that one to them.

I noticed a job posted off to one side all by itself where a group of thieves were terrorizing a town to the East of Magnolia in what looked like a heavily wooded, mountainous area. The town was called Lynna Village. It appears that after raiding the town of anything of value, the thieves in question had apparently deemed that they still needed more and had taken the village's young as hostage to ransom whatever they had left; in short, they were bleeding the town dry. The job boasted in large font that this was a dangerous job only to be attempted by a team of skilled wizards. I thought back to all I had lost … my friends, my family, my home … my very childhood … all gone. I then thought of similar things happening to the denizens of this town; the thought of it brought my blood to a boil. No! Not again … not on my watch! I walked up to it and ripped it off of the paper clip it was hanging on to; danger level be damned. I took a few smaller similar jobs and sent them off to storage by throwing them up in the air as they dematerialized in a show of red fire.

"Woah, those were some high level jobs you just took, you going to be alright to take them on alone, what with you just having joined and all?" The comment of friendly concern came from one Nab Lasaro. Nab was an extremely tall, heavily muscular and massive young man, towering over most of his guild mates. His straight dark hair was styled in a bob cut, with a light-colored band circling it near the top, and two curved bangs emerging from under it, framing the upper part of his face, which had a somewhat rectangular shape. He had prominent thick lips, and a pair of wide, horizontal white stripes, each covering one of his cheeks, somehow reminiscent of tribal war paint. Both of his shoulders are adorned by a white tattoo consisting of several circles, with a larger one in the center being surrounded by smaller ones, in a shape resembling a stylized sun. I looked over at the man and said, "Yes. I'm confident I can take them." He smiled. "That's the attitude! Well, by all means then." I paused, and then added, "Aren't you going to take a job as well? There are certainly enough here …?" I trailed off as I noticed his hesitance. Before I could continue our dialogue, someone from a nearby table commented how he never took a job, and began to argue with Nab. I just sighed internally and left them to quarrel in peace.

I made my way over to the bar and ordered a couple of large mugs of something cold and non-alcoholic before taking it over to one of the tables near the far corner of the room, where I could drink and contemplate in relative peace. I gently sat down on one of the benches that looked the sturdiest of the bunch, and sat my mugs down. As things were settled down, if at least for the time being, I took the time to isolate and scan each individual I met in Fairy Tail up till now and tagged each as 'Friendly'. It would prove to be a slightly longer process for my helmet computer whenever I would next come into range of another member; instead of simply registering the FOF transponder imbedded into the backs of the necks of friendlies when they enlisted, (A rather invasive process I assumed they wouldn't exactly go for) the individual would instead be scanned and matched against a database of bio-signatures I was building with the assistance of Mira, which would be then classified as normal: either red for enemy, yellow for caution, and green for allies. That done, I leaned back a little and rolled the pads of my fingers together pensively and took my time. I activated a function in my helmet that extruded what amounted to a straw and was gently sipping on a sweet tasting fluid as I contemplated on what I should tell them with Mira in my head. A few minutes went by and a green dot came closer on my motion tracker. I looked over as Master Makarov took a seat nearby with a mug of his own which, if I were made to guess, held some kind of whiskey.

"I know that body language: slowly consuming a beverage while staring into its' depths while lost in thought with no doubt a thousand mile stare. You are a soldier, are you not?" This caught me by surprise as I almost choked on the mouthful of liquid I had practically inhaled as he merely laughed. 'He knows! _'_ "So you are … forgive me. I've spent my fair share of time as a youth in taverns around army vets old and young; I think I can just about spot them from a mile away by now." He smiled and took a draught before adding, "Well, it was that and your not at all conspicuous armor. If you don't mind an old man prying, where are you from, son?" Thinking fast, I replied, "I'm not at liberty to say a few things, but suffice to say I'm not from anywhere around here. I came from a far land by ship to retrieve a captured comrade that had been taken prisoner by enemy forces. I spearheaded a rescue effort with a team of my own design and we rescued our friend. However, before we could escape, events happened and the ship … well, it exploded … and my team and I were separated in the event. I was picked up by a wandering traveler and found myself in this land with my team's fate unknown. My goal as of now is to find them as soon as I can, but it seems I'm here to stay as I and my team have most likely been marked as killed in action by my military by now. As such, I have taken a few jobs from your board so as I can pay my debt to Lucy for the kindness she has shown me thus far as well as purchase living quarters." He looked at me for a moment before smiling at me. "Well, that is rather unfortunate to hear, but I'm glad you ended up with us. I do hope you find your team one day soon. Which jobs did you take, by the way?" I brought out the jobs I had taken; the one that had led to Lynna Village was on top when I showed it to him. "Ohh, it's this one is it? Normally I would caution those who would take this particular job up, but if a soldier – no doubt seasoned – from another land thinks they can lend a hand, who would I be to stand in their way? Though, if you find you are in need of help, there's no shame in coming back for reinforcements. I trust a soldier like you already knows that." He said that last part with a paternal smile. Afterward, when I had turned slightly to draw from one of my mugs, I could see him glance at me with a knowing look.

As we were talking, I noticed a small form creep up behind the Master and tug on the back of his hoodie. A small voice could be heard asking, "How come my dad hasn't come back yet?" Makarov had been drinking before the question was posed, and as such sat his mug down and sighed softly. "You are starting to work my nerves, Romeo." He scooted around in his stool to look at the anxious boy. As he did so, I was able to briefly get a clear view of the boy. Romeo is a slim, young boy with straight, dark hair. His bangs were particularly prominent, covering part of his forehead, with some smaller strands jutting outwards from the top of his head. He had large eyes and a small, mildly round nose. Romeo's outfit consisted of a dark T-shirt adorned on the front by some kind of stylized symbol, lighter-colored pleated shorts with two large pockets on the back, and simple sandals, each held up by two bands joined by a round button.

"You're a wizard's son! Have faith in your father and wait patiently for him." This apparently wasn't what he was hoping to hear because he continued pleading to the Master, "But sir, he told me that he'd be gone about three days; and he's been gone for over a _week_ now!" Master Makarov grunted into his mug again thinking and said before taking a drink, "Hrm, if I remember correctly, he took the job up on Mt. Hakobe." Romeo raised his fists in a determined stance, "That's right, and it's not that far from here so _why won't anyone go and look for him_?!" Annoyed, Master Makarov sternly looked at him and replied, "Listen, kid! Your old man's a wizard, and like any other wizard in this guild he can take care of himself!" He then sighed and let out as much frustration as he could and adopted a somewhat gentler approach, "Now go home, have some milk and cookies and _wait!_ "

Romeo closed his eyes and raised a fist, emotions obviously fighting for dominance within. Finally, he executed a right hook to the master's face that I could have told him was coming for the last week before shouting 'Jerk!' and running off trying not to cry, shouting that he hated him, hated us all. Of course he didn't really mean it, he was just worried about his dad … poor kid. Makarov, having been thrown off balance enough to fall to the floor onto his back, groaned as he held a palm to his face, covering an impressive looking welt growing on the bridge of his nose. I extended a hand and hauled him back up to the stool in an upright fashion. "You ok, Sir?" He sighed and said, "Yeah, yeah … looks like his old man's been giving him some lessons."

I decided it was time to get up to refill my drinks and to give him some space while he nursed his nose. I went up to the bar and pulled up a stool near Lucy and Mirajane. She was solemnly washing plates while Lucy sadly looked towards the main entrance that Romeo had just exited through. Lucy made a small noise and commented, "That's gotta be tough." Mirajane looked over to her. "I know it sounds like he doesn't care, but he really is worried." Just then a loud crack could be heard from the vicinity of the Request Board. I looked over and Natsu was pulling his fist out of a hole in the board. Nab was surprised by this, "What do you think you're doing Natsu?! You almost broke the board!" Natsu was silent as he put his hands into his pockets and strode out the door presumably after Romeo with his backpack in hand over his right shoulder with Happy following after. I could hear murmurings around the various tables and could tell that this wasn't good and that Natsu might go after Romeo's father on Mt. Hakobe. Someone nearby sighed and asked to no one in particular if that kid was ever going to grow up.

Nab and Makarov eventually made their way to the bar to get more drinks. Nab set his mug on the counter and Mirajane indicated she would get to it. "This doesn't look good master, you know how Natsu can be, I bet he's going after Macao. Going after him isn't going to do anything but hurt his pride." Makarov, who had applied first aide to his nose, had slipped onto the counter and was calmly smoking slowly from a long pipe he produced from somewhere. "Remember Nab, we can't choose another's path. Just leave him be." Lucy asked why Natsu got so upset. Mirajane was facing the opposite wall filling orders. She softly replied, "Probably because he and Romeo have a lot in common … I think he sees himself in Romeo. Just because we're members of Fairy Tail doesn't mean we don't have our own personal issues. We've all had our fair share of suffering and loss." I bowed my head in remembrance of all those that were lost, reflecting on her words. I think she saw me do that. "Many years ago, Natsu's father left and never came back. Well … technically, it wasn't his real father, but the one who raised him. He was actually a dragon." This blew our minds, Lucy's, Mine, and I think Mira's collectively. It wasn't exactly new information; but for it to be verified … an _actual dragon_. Mirajane continued, "When he was a little boy, a dragon found him wandering the forest. He took him in and taught him all about language, culture, and magic. But one day, the dragon disappeared and never returned." Lucy and I shared a look, "So that dragon must have been Igneel!" Mirajane nodded. "That's right. And Natsu lives for the day when he'll see Igneel again." She let out a small laugh. "It's sort of cute, don't you think?"

I got up from my stool, mugs of the cool, sweet liquid forgotten, full of purpose. 'I have to ask someone what that stuff is, it's delicious' Confused, Lucy got up and asked what I was doing. "Come on, Lucy! We're going to help Natsu get Romeo's dad back!" She blinked at me for a second before she grew serious and nodded curtly. I continued as I headed for the door, "But most importantly, do you have a set of winter gear?" She stopped for a second with what could only be a curious expression on her face as she asked me why. "Well, his dad's on a mountain, and since we don't know exactly how far up the mountain we need to go to get him, it would stand to reason that if we needed to go anywhere near the summit that it would be rather cold. Safety first." I eyed her briefly. "And no offence Lucy, but I don't think your outfit is suited for cold weather." She tried to keep pace and ended up hastening her walk to keep up with me. "Huh, I haven't looked at it like that. And no I don't, but I think I can find out where to get some."

About fifteen minutes later found us looking for Natsu with Lucy clutching a shopping bag. We eventually found him in front of the Fiore Transport Co. looking at the building with intense distaste. We both called out to him. He brightened up when he saw us, "Hey! I was kinda wondering if anyone would come with me! This is perfect! Now I can see what you guys can do!" Happy, who was laying on Natsu's head on his stomach emitted his trademark 'aye'.

Three hours or so later found us riding in some kind of wooden enclosed wagon: the doors on the back were wood, wooden walls, wooden benches, and an angled wood roof; it was essentially a very small wooden shack on wheels. Lucy was polishing her key collection and I was waking from a nap. Natsu, who had been holding his stomach and moaning the entire time, jumped up at the first chance he could get once we stopped moving and was so excited he actually danced a little bit, a small amount of flames dancing excitedly around him. "ALL RIGHT! WE'VE STOPPED MOVING!" _Man, he really has a problem, doesn't he?_ From outside the cabin, the voice of our driver could be heard. "I'm sorry, this is as far as I can take you." I opened the door and jumped out of the doors and into a pile of snow up to my shins. My visor immediately took on a drastic tint in response. Lucy merely stared out at the landscape before us. "Where the heck are we, Natsu?! It's a frozen wasteland!"

About ten minutes later we were following Natsu down a snowy path with a shivering Lucy. She asked, "Why is it so _cold_? I know we're on a mountain, but its summer! There shouldn't be a blizzard like this _anywhere_!" Natsu, who was taking lead of our triangle formation, replied, "That what you get for wearing light clothing." I agreed with him, which earned me a look from Lucy. "Oh _please_ , you're not even dressed for it! Now, hand over that blanket!" Natsu moved Happy to his shoulder. "Man, she just keeps on talking, right?" Happy merely replied, "Aye." I stepped in and gently pried her off of Natsu's gear. "Lucy, that's _his_ things, you can't just go taking other people's things at your discretion." She turned to me with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. "Oh, and what about _you_? Are you even _wearing_ clothing under that armor? How are you not cold?"

I cocked my head, trying to think up a response and decided to go with the blunt truth, "Besides this bodysuit, no. I don't need to. Between the two, they form a complete barrier to the world around me. I could probably walk into a cryovolcano or a magma flow and I _probably_ wouldn't feel it." (Although, to be honest, I don't think I really want to test that theory …) I could tell that last one went well over their heads, but the general sentiment was still felt. _'_ Right, right. Lower tier civilization. _'_ I calmly directed Lucy's attention from us to the bag she was still _carrying in her hands_. By the way she was mumbling, I could tell she was seething at herself for forgetting all about the winter gear she had just bought for this expressed purpose.

A few minutes later saw Natsu and I with a much more comfortable (And much quieter) Lucy. She was wearing a fur and leather themed outfit: a hat reminiscent of a pilot trooper aviator hat, thick fur and beaten leather gloves, a thick leather jacket that was lined with some variety of even thicker animal fur that framed her bust nicely, with some kind of sort of tight fur lined leather pants (That showed off her ass rather nicely, which Mira and I silently appreciated), and a nice pair of warm looking leather boots that had bits of metal on the bottoms that were undoubtedly meant to act as cleats for if she stepped on ice. This entire outfit she simply put on over the clothes she was wearing. "Hahh … that feels much better. So, what sort of crazy job would force Romeo's dad to come to a place like this anyway?" Natsu crossed his arms and said, "Well, you should've asked that before coming on this mission. He went to slay a Vulcan, it's a big monster." A shocked and faintly timid look crossed her face momentarily as she said she wanted to go back to the guild. Natsu merely shrugged indifferently. I locked eyes with her for a second through my visor and motioned with my head for her to continue. She took a second to come to a decision before walking back after Natsu. I easily fell into step beside her.

Natsu began calling to our missing comrade over the fierce and probably biting winds. Lucy looked inquisitively over to me. "Hey, how _did_ you come up with this anyway? And how did you know I would need this gear on this job?" I shrugged and commented without thinking, "It's called situational awareness. It comes naturally to most people, but even more so with training. I've been trained so much over the first few years of service, so many things are like second nature anymore … this, is no different." I tried to take it back, but it was far too late; with that comment, what would have probably been an enlightening conversation for them and a headache on my end about what I could tell them about my training was (Thankfully) averted by a large form coming down onto us from above and occupying the space that had grown between Natsu and us. It hit the ground fists first, causing a _massive_ shockwave and a large crater where it hit.

The creature before me was a Vulcan. They appear to be large, anthropomorphic monsters that resemble primates. They possessed distinctive facial features: elongated chins, prolonged ears and pointed heads that resemble a single horn on top of their head. Vulcans have gargantuan arms, and subsequently large hands that attach to their muscular torsos. In comparison to their upper body, Vulcans evidently possess a pair of smaller-scaled legs that feature a long tail connected to the bottom of their torsos. The fur on their arms forms a decorative pattern unique to each species.

As its back was turned to Lucy and I, the first people that the Vulcan saw was Natsu and Happy. He grinned. Happy freaked out about how big it was. The creature took a few pig like snorts through its nose before giving its best shit-eating grin and rushed towards Lucy. Natsu shouted after the Vulcan, "Hey, wait!" The Vulcan was in front of Lucy before I knew it and was leaning in rather close to her face. "Me like human woman!" It picked her up and carried Lucy away without a second thought. Natsu ignited his fists and commented on how the Vulcan could talk. We could then hear her yell above the winds, "DON'T JUST STAND THERE, HURRY UP AND SAVE ME!" And just like that, it was gone.

A small while later, I learned that Natsu apparently had the nose of a bloodhound as he tracked her scent all the way up the mountain to the summit. _I bet Lucy is thankful for her gear now, eh?_ By the time we found his cave and went inside, the Vulcan was standing over Lucy with eyes full of … intent. Bleh. _I don't even want to think about that._ Natsu charged forward into the cave towards the Vulcan, "Hey you big ape! Where is he? Where's Macao?! TELL ME!" His charge was going well until, well, he slipped on the ice and went spinning like a top on his head before careening into a wall like a bowling ball. Lucy and I face palmed as Lucy complained about how that wasn't cool at all. "Why do you feel like you have to make an entrance all the time?" In his crater in the wall (And upside down), Natsu was still questioning the Vulcan. "Spill it, monkey! Where is my friend?" This brought the creature's attention to him and away from Lucy, who was able to run behind me for cover. "You understand me, right? He's a _Human man_. Now tell me where he is!" He brought a large finger up to his lip and made a thoughtful expression. "Man?" Natsu wore a serious expression as he pointed at him. "That's right! Where are you hiding him?" Lucy slowly looked towards him with a curious expression before asking, "Don't you think you might be jumping to conclusions?"

The Vulcan waved at us to get our attention as he grunted excitedly as he pointed to a hole in the far wall; it didn't look like there was a floor on the other side, more like it was an icy window to the outside. "Man! Man!" _This is a trap, isn't it._ Natsu perked up excitedly, "Hey! I think he's going to show me!" He followed the Vulcan to the hole in the wall, leaned out and yelled, "MACAO!" The next thing that happened was Natsu was sent through the hole in the wall and into the cold, blizzardy abyss with the help of the Vulcan who pushed him. _Oh look, it's a trap. Who could've predicted it._ Lucy called after Natsu as she and I scrambled our way over to the hole and looked over. Indeed, a black abyss awaited those who fell. Meanwhile, the Vulcan was in the middle of the room doing a little tribal dance, chanting, and making rather apelike grunts as he did so, and was repeating, "No like man, me like woman!" Lucy and I backed away from the hole as she looked at me with a worried look, "This is bad, he can't survive out there!" She called out to him again. _Aaaand now the Vulcan is just chanting 'woman' over and over while grinding his fists together. Earthland had some_ _weird_ _creatures._ I snorted a little in amusement. 'And we've only been here a day and a half. Just think how many more things are in store for us.' _Well … when you put it like that, that actually sounds a little exciting. And if you throw the guild into the mix … things could get pretty interesting around here …_

Lucy took on a serious expression as she turned around and fished out her Celestial keys. "Alright you pervy monkey! You're going down!" She took one of her golden keys out. On this one, the head of a bull is carved in the base of the key with two horns sprouting out on its side, surrounding a white center with the crest of the Golden Bull, colored in black. The blade of the key is designed similar to that of a two-sided axe, each side designed with an S facing in opposite directions. The blade then finishes off with a pointed tip. She slashed it through the air like a blade, first a downward left-to-right diagonal slash, then a downward vertical cut. "Open! Gate of the golden bull! Taurus!"

 _So this is the kind of things she can summon, eh?_ Taurus was an extremely tall, heavily muscular and athletic humanoid whose physical features are highly reminiscent of both a bull – as his theme implies – but, most notably, of a cow. His body was covered in a black and white pattern similar to those of dappled cows, and the upper part of it from the waist up seemed more massive than the lower one. His head was bovine in shape, with small, elongated ears jutting outwards from the sides of his head, and a pair of horns – testifying him as a bull – sitting on top of it. He had dark eyes, and his flat nose had a large golden ring in it. He also wore what amounts to a pair of swim briefs held up by a thick leather belt. He wore simple dark boots with lighter upper edges, consisting of three lines circling his legs, and has a red belt circling his neck, to which a golden cowbell is attached. His forearms are wrapped in bandages, and he wears brown fingerless gloves. Crossing his torso diagonally and passing over his right shoulder is a large, plain dark belt closed by a simple buckle, to the back of which Taurus attaches his signature axe when he's not using it.

Taurus roared and flexed his muscles as he was summoned. The Vulcan dumbly asked, "Cow?" Lucy was serious, and as such, I was going to respect her and let her fight this one. If she needed help, I would be more than glad to step in, but until then, I was content to watch for now. Lucy grinned confidentially, "I should warn you, monkey boy, Taurus is the most powerful celestial spirit that I have a contract with!" Taurus then began to flirt with her, which caused the Vulcan to shout, "No touch my woman!" Taurus leveled a look at him. " _Your_ woman? Them's fighting words, you moooonkey!" Taurus jumped into the air, equipped his double bladed two-handed axe, and delivered a vertical slash to the ground which then caused a fissure to open up and quickly move towards the Vulcan, who easily dodged the attack. The Vulcan came up to Taurus' left and was about to blindside him with a punch to the face before Natsu came back into the picture out of nowhere with a flying kick to Taurus' face, which incapacitated him on the ground while his axe went spinning and buried its blade in the ice, handle up.

Lucy could only stare at Taurus and comment, "Epic fail!" Meanwhile, completely clueless, Natsu asked why there were more monsters now than when he left. "He's a friend, dummy! One of my spirits!" Natsu gestured behind him with his thumb towards the Vulcan, who looked just about as confused as we were, "You mean that guy?" I stepped in. "Whoa, Natsu. How were you able to survive? We thought you were a goner." Natsu merely grinned and gestured above him to the blue flying cat. "Happy came to save me. Thanks little buddy!" Happy grinned, "Aye!" Lucy crossed her arms and asked why he couldn't handle other modes of transportation, but he could fly with Happy. He looked incredulously at her. "What kind of stupid question is that?! Happy isn't a mode of transportation! He's my friend! I mean, duh!" Lucy adopted a deadpan look and sarcastically said, "You're right! It was totally wrong of me to compare the two."

The Vulcan apparently had had enough, and shouted 'my woman' as he jumped up towards Natsu and attempted to make him into paste on the ground with one of his giant fists, which Natsu easily blocked with his right forearm. "Now you listen up, I consider everyone in the Fairy Tail guild my friend!" He was sent back about thirty feet by a kick from the Vulcan, which he blocked by crossing his arms in a defensive X formation. "Whether it's gramps, or Mirajane, or even those annoying jerks Grey and Elfman, and Happy and you guys … you're all my friends." He started to glow with an inner fire as the Vulcan charged at him. "Which is why…" Natsu launched a fiery kick in the Vulcan's abdomen. "… I'm not leaving without Macao!" The kick sent the Vulcan crashing against the ceiling of the icy room before coming back down in a ready stance while icy stalactites rained on down from above; some of which were large enough around as my upper arms.

Taking advantage of this, the Vulcan brought his hands together quickly in a clap-like fashion hard enough to shatter the stalactites by the sheer air pressure. Lucy panicked and dived out of the way of the icy shards; Natsu meanwhile, tanked the full force of the barrage like a champ. "Your ice attack has no effect on fire!" However, the attack appeared to be nothing more than a smokescreen because when the cloud of debris cleared, the Vulcan was holding Taurus' axe and had a cocky grin on his face. Natsu and Lucy backed away slightly when they saw what had happened. Natsu commented, "That's not good." With a worried expression, Lucy said, "He got Taurus' axe!" From elsewhere in the cave, I faintly heard a weak plea. "Please be careful miss Lucy!" It was Taurus. He wasn't in anything resembling fighting shape, _but_ he wasn't completely out of the battle either, it seems.

Back to the fight, the Vulcan took a one handed swipe at Natsu with his new weapon, which he easily did a one handed backflip to avoid. The Vulcan kept slashing and Natsu kept avoiding it, cycling through a precarious dance of attack and avoidance. That is until Natsu slipped on the ice and landed on his butt. Lucy yelled, "No! Natsu!" The Vulcan grinned and walked up to Natsu and raised the axe overhead with both hands, prepared to execute a fatal blow. Before it connected, I appeared between the two fighters and caught the axe just below one of the shoulders of the closest head. "Mind if I cut in Natsu?" Natsu breathed for a second before nodding. "Thanks, man. I was about to try something drastic."

I took a firmer hold of the axe before swiftly kicking the Vulcan between the legs so it would drop its hold on the weapon. I quickly followed up with a kick to its abdomen to give myself some room to play with. I twirled the giant axe skillfully in my hands until I was able to bring it to bear before I swung at the Vulcan and hit it on the side of the head with the flat of the axe. Now dazed, the creature remained where it was, it's stance faltering noticeably. I took that time to fix the axe across my back and requipped the Strength Boost armor enhancement, grabbed the creature by the shins, hoisted him into the air, and slammed him into the ground on the other side of me. I repeated this maneuver a couple of times before throwing him up into the air and side kicking him into the opposite wall. He landed in a pile of debris upside down. I turned to Natsu, who was looking at me in awe, Lucy meanwhile, was just flat-out gawking. "What? Do I have something on me?" I quickly brushed off a little ice off of me.

Happy exclaimed, "We beat him!" Lucy cocked her head to one side, thinking. "Yeah, but wasn't this monkey supposed to tell us where Macao was?" Natsu sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. "Heh, yeah … forgot about that." Lucy looked over to me. "Hey now, I did what was necessary to avoiding losing a teammate and a new ally; if I hadn't stepped in when I did, he would've _killed_ Natsu." She walked closer to the unconscious form and bent over it slightly and supported herself on her thighs to get a closer look.

"Well, uh, I don't think he's going to do much talking." Happy laughed until the Vulcan began to glow a yellow-white light as a magic circle appeared. Everyone covered their eyes. "What the heck was that?" asked Natsu and gasped. "Macao?!" Lucy gaped at the man slumped upside down against the wall. "Are you telling me that big, perverted monkey was actually your friend this whole time?!" Happy quipped, "Yeah, he must have been taken over by that Vulcan." I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "Taken over?" Happy chimed in, "Yeah, it must have used a possession spell against him. You see, Vulcans survive by stealing people's bodies and taking them over. They're evil body snatchers!"

I walked over and gently picked up the unconscious man and placed him on my back and walked to an unmarred patch of ground and waited for Lucy and Natsu to spread a blanket flat on the floor before I slowly laid him down onto it. The man was a little worse for wear, but was easily identifiable as Macao Cornbolt: our missing friend and Romeo's father whom we were sent on the behest of his son to find.

He was a slim, mildly muscular man of average height with short, straight, slicked back dark blue hair. He had linear dark eyebrows, dark eyes, and a prominent nose with a flat, rectangular front. The lower part of his face was covered in quite a large amount of stubble, which includes a thin mustache. Macao's outfit consisted of a knee-length white jacket, often kept open, with a wide, dark purple collar and matching edges, with the sleeves kept rolled up. The sleeves of the simple, dark shirt he wore underneath this jacket were visible sprouting from the latter's own sleeves, and reach down below his elbows. He wore brown, pinstriped pants held up by a lighter-colored belt bearing a snake-like pattern, with a simple, square-shaped buckle, partially obscured by his shirt, and a very distinctive pair of shoes, adorned with a leopard pattern. Around his neck Macao wore a large, serpentine necklace, which was held up by a chain.

A first aid kit appeared and Macao's wounds were treated and wrapped in bandages. Happy silently landed next to him. "It looks like he put up a pretty good fight before that Vulcan finally got to him, though." Very worried, Natsu kneeled on the floor over Macao and forcefully exclaimed, "Don't you die on me! Romeo's waiting for you! Open your eyes!" Fortunately, Macao stirred and opened his eyes. "N … Natsu." Lucy laughed and Natsu brightened up immediately. "You're ok!" Macao sighed softly. "I'm _so_ pathetic. I defeated nineteen of those brutes. But the twentieth … man, that's the one that got me. I'm so angry with myself … I'm kind of embarrassed to go home and face Romeo." Natsu raised a fist, "C'mon, don't be like that! You beat nineteen monsters!" I could tell by her expression that Lucy was surprised. I stepped into the conversation. "You know, it was _Romeo_ who sent us to find you." He heard that and smiled weakly. Natsu grinned and extended a hand and helped him to his feet. "Now, let's go home. Your little boy's been worried sick about you." Macao grinned and nodded.

Before we headed back out of the cave back towards Magnolia, I helped Taurus up and gave him his axe back. He eyed me for a second before smiling and thanking me right before he glowed a brilliant yellow-white light and vanished.

As we neared the guildhall, we could see the small form of Romeo crying silently on some steps nearby. Natsu called out, "Hey, Romeo!" Macao was walking with us, albeit supported by an arm over Natsu and I with Lucy leading ahead. Natsu waved at Romeo with his free arm and grinned widely. Even from here, I could tell his eyes grew as large as saucers as his mouth fell agape. Next thing I saw, Romeo had run over and tackled Macao screaming 'DAD!' at the top of his lungs. Needless to say, a tearful reunion on both sides.

Natsu, Lucy and I smiled at each other before Natsu gestured towards the guildhall and we walked away, giving them some privacy. Before we got too far though, we heard Romeo yell, "Natsu! Happy! Thanks for your help!" Without breaking stride, Natsu raised an arm and waved back at him without turning saying, "No prob, kid!" "Aye!" And then I heard Romeo again, "Lucy! Jai! Thanks for helping them bring my daddy back to me!" Lucy turned, waved, and laughed. Without breaking stride, I looked back to him and gave him an informal two fingered salute.

 **[Yay! Jai found and joined Fairy Tail and went on his first mission with Lucy and Natsu. He seems to be having fun, don't you think?]**


	6. Liberation

[Last updated: 04/23/18]

A day after Natsu, Lucy, and I made our return to Magnolia and reunited father and son, I was about ready to make off for the first of the handful of jobs in this new world I found myself inhabiting. But in order to do that, I needed information: specifically, the layout of the land around me, and as much of it as possible. I looked around the guild and I eventually found in an immense two … perhaps three story floor-to-ceiling library detailed maps of the city of Magnolia and of the surrounding lands of the country I was in, which they indeed called Fiore. The collection even included splendid elevation maps. Bonus!

I brought all of them close together and after looking around to make sure no one was nearby, I positioned my hand near the right edge of one of the maps of Magnolia. 'Ready Mira? I'm going to scan these images into system memory.' Y _ep! Go ahead._ A soft blue light began to emanate from my hand and I slowly passed it from right to left and then top to bottom to make sure I had gotten everything. I then moved on to the maps of Fiore and scanned them as well.

I must have been paying too much attention to the process because the second I finished up scanning everything I needed into suit memory, master Makarov came in the door behind me from just outside sensor range. _I wonder how long he was there watching us._ "Ah, if it isn't one of our new members! Eh, forgive me son, what did you say your name was again?" Initially caught off guard, I quickly lowered my hand and turned to meet the elder. "I'm Jai sir. Jai Mathers." He nodded. "Jai … Jai … hrmm." Curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't help but ask what was wrong. "Eh, nothing. The name just sounds … I don't know, foreign." He waved a hand around in the air the way one clears the air of dust or spider webs and looked at me with new purpose in his eyes.

"Anyway, that wasn't why I came here in search of you. I didn't know if you had left yet on your jobs, but …" He leaned over to one side and quickly studied what I had laid out in front of me, "… it seems you needed guidance as where to go, isn't that right?" _Just who is this man; he seems to know much more than he's letting on … but then again, aren't we doing the same?_ "Yes sir. As I am new to these lands, I required access to detailed and elevation maps of the surrounding lands outside of Magnolia, as well as the city itself." At that, Makarov raised his hands to the impossibly tall shelves of books around us and exclaimed calmly, "Well, if its information you seek, the guild's library is the best place to seek it! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask myself or Mirajane; she catalogs and maintains the library and I'm old enough to remember the history!" The old man laughed slightly at his own joke before growing serious again. "Ahem. Do you have everything you need now?" I nodded. "Good. Since this is your first job, I have taken the liberty of helping you out by providing you with transportation to and from Lynna village, prepaid of course since you don't have any money, waiting outside." He extended his hand, which I shook. "Good luck. Save those kids and the town. Do the Fairy Tail guild proud." I saluted sharply. "Yes sir." It seems old habits are hard to break.

I walked outside to find a little horse drawn wagon waiting for me. The man sitting in the driver's seat looked over to me from under a hat (Which reminded me greatly of an oversized beret) and asked in a rough, heavily accented, gravelly voice, "You the one I'm supposed to take to Lynna village?" I nodded. "The trip's been prepaid, so here." The man flipped me a metal disk about a quarter the size of my palm that had a stylishly embossed image of a carriage and horse with a large 1 stamped out of the middle. I held the coin with two fingers and looked at it closely on both sides, the image never changed no matter how I twisted it. Before I could ask, the man spoke up again. "Since I can tell just by looking that youse the new kid on the block, Imma going to feel all charitable-like and give youse some advice, free of charge. That there's a token used by my company for those who prepay trips in advance, like you have. Since it wouldn't be a safe business practice to just take people at their word that they paid for our service ahead of time, the compromise was that on the first leg of their trip, the driver was to give one of these to anyone wanting a ride back to where they came from, providing they prepaid of course. They were to then just give the coin to the driver of whatever they climbed into next and tell them the destination." He paused for a moment to think. "It all sounds complicated when I say it like that, but it really isn't. In other words ... don't lose it kid, or you're taking the long trek back to where youse started!" I nodded and deposited the coin into storage with a soft blue glow and climbed into the cabin.

I looked outside to the receding landscape and reminisced about what happened earlier that day. Natsu, Lucy, and Happy took the job I had eyed the other day – the one that called for the destruction of a book. Lucy was all excited about _her_ first job; she was running to and fro collecting things she needed. Natsu asked if I wanted to join in on the mission, to which I politely declined citing a few jobs of my own I had to do; after all, I still have my debts to repay. But, I promised that I'd join them from then on. That put a grin on his face; he clapped a hand on my shoulder and bade me good luck before they ran off.

I spent the intervening hours in a light snooze as I waited for my arrival at Lynna village. Once there, I waved to the driver as he rode off and looked at the village I was deposited in. There was indeed a wooden arch that displayed a cheery welcome to the village … but it looked like it hadn't had any maintenance done on it for a little while; plus, no one was there to welcome me in person. Strange. While I wasn't exactly expecting a parade at my arrival or anything, I was thinking there would be at least _someone_ here to show me the way; apparently not. I slowly took a look around. Where were the inhabitants? Indeed, a great many of the various stores and businesses within sight were boarded up and it looked like no one's been around for quite a while – a veritable ghost town. I switched visual input to thermal and I found one of the larger boarded up buildings was lit up like a bonfire in reds, oranges, and yellows. Jackpot. I made my way to the building and gently knocked on the door.

"Hello? I'm from the Fairy Tail guild; there was a notice that you guys needed help with a band of thieves troubling your village?" For several moments, there was no sound, but then a shuffling and a cacophony of metallic clicks of several physical locking mechanisms disengaging could be heard. I remembered to present my shoulder pauldron first. The door opened a crack, and a frail old voice sounded from the gloom inside, "Are … are you sure?" A pause; presumably whoever answered the door was looking around me. "There's no one else with you? You're the only one that came?!" Another pause, then an eventual sigh. "Come on in young man. You'll catch your death of cold outside." I followed the old man inside and as he made his way around me to secure the door, I swapped thermal imaging for night vision. Someone nearby lit a candle, at which my visor immediately dimmed the display to compensate and I saw what must have been the remnants of the village's population – the adults and the elderly – packed inside this building cowering miserably in the darkness. They were garbed in filthy robes and coveralls; if I were made to guess, none of them had probably seen the light of day for some time. Forced in seclusion in their misery.

I was suddenly overcome with a desire to hug each of them and comfort them, but I stifled it because it wouldn't get anything done. D'a _ww … so you DO care …_ An old man then came up to me, gesticulating wildly while saying, "It's ok. He's from the Fairy Tail guild and he's here to help bring the life back into this village!" _'The life of the village?' What does he mean by that?_ Something about me must have indicated confusion because a woman who looked in her thirties came up to me from my left, "Don't mind him. That's just the way my grandfather talks, but he's right. By the 'life of the village', he of course means the children. Without them, we still could rebuild our town and set things back up, but …" She trailed off and sighed sadly, "Without the cheer they bring into our lives, what would be the point. We need to reclaim the lives that we were forced to put on hold thanks to those thieves."

I looked around before I spoke, "So it's safe to assume you need me to retrieve the children. What of the bandits?" The woman nodded. "Right. Bring them back here. We'll contact the Magic Council and have someone here to retrieve them so they can face due processing and punishment; as badly as we want those men gone, they need to pay for what they've done to our children and to our town. Also, if you could, try to bring back as much of what they took as you can. You do all that, and we'll reward you extremely handsomely." I began to protest gently, but I was cut off by a wagging finger close to my faceplate, to which I backed my head in response. She warned me, "Oh no. Don't you argue with me on this. You're doing dangerous work that should've been taken on by a team of _six highly skilled mages_. I _insist_ you be paid in accordance. Think of it as hazard pay; because it is."

I thought for a second before relenting and asking what they knew of where the thieves were. It was then the old man from before – the woman's grandfather – spoke up again. He lamented, "They den like beasts in an old fortress built into the hills. Ironically it was originally built to be a protection against exactly what befell our fair village and now look at what they've done to it!" That piqued my curiosity. "Why, what else have they done to the fortress?" The elder looked sadly at me, "They've apparently broken through some of the walls and have begun mining into the mountain the fortress resides in in hopes of hitting an ore vein, or so I assume. It wouldn't be that important anywhere else, but long ago our ancestors carved their history into the walls of those hallowed halls. I don't think we'd be able to recover it at this point." I thought for a moment, "Carved into the walls, you say? Hmm … I make no promises, but I'll see what I can do." I could then see hope build in the old man's features, "You – you really mean it, sonny?" I looked at him and nodded, "Yeah. If there's anything I can do, I'll lend a hand."

The man's granddaughter showed me to a map on a nearby table with a detailed map of the compound and the surrounding lands. I scanned the map, Mira set a waypoint, and I saluted sharply. "I will have what's rightfully yours, the children, and the thieves brought back here as soon as I can."

About half an hour later, by utilizing my jetpack at full thrust, I made my way through the blindingly white frozen winter wonderland that the old fortress called home. I stopped and took cover when I came just within sight of the objective. I used the zoom feature in my helmet to see just what I was getting myself into.

Located just under two miles from me were a broken series of stone steps cut into the snowy mountainside. They led to a large stone entrance that had a massive stone arch looming low and wide above it; the arch wasn't one piece, rather many large pieces of rock made to fit one another in the shape of an arch. On each side of the entrance were large iron braziers that could hold massive fires within, however they had been extinguished for centuries judging from the disrepair. Just inside, I could see a small campfire with chairs and bedrolls. Cozy. Outside standing watch were three guards.

By the manner they held themselves, and going by what they wore ... these men, and presumably the whole lot of them, were thugs. I smiled; hired muscle. They never learn, do they? This was going to be easy. Off to one side of my visor, Mira's face appeared and looked in at me. _So, what's the plan? Are you going to knock two of them out then deal with the one left kind of like what you did back on the ship?_ " I shook my head, "Nah … I don't think so. I want to try … _something else_ this time." Then an idea came to me. "I think I'm going to take a page out of the Sanghelli handbook for intimidating your enemy – which, to be fair, is a pretty large book." She grinned at me, " _Ahh. So a shock-and-awe tactic then?_ " I nodded. "Shock and awe." (Which may as well be the secondary, much more succinct title for said handbook)

I activated active camo and made my way up to the archway that overlooked the three guards. An errant rock tumbled down from where I was perched. I overheard one of them ask another, "What was that?" Another one looked around and drew his weapons, "I don't know …" There was a quite a notable pause before the third dumbly asked, "What was what?" The first one looked over to the third and sighed, "Oh, just the sound of you being the _biggest_ idiot I know." The slow-witted guard said, "Oh … ok." Another _long pause_ for him to realize he'd been insulted, then, "Dick."

I whispered, " _Ready Mira?"_ She chuckled a bit before she responded. _Yeah, I think it's about time we put these two out of their misery._ I took a slow breath and jumped off so I landed in the middle of the group causing the three men to be thrown away from me by the force of the impact. A cloud of dirt formed around me. I got up from the vague kneeling stance I landed in and brought out an energy sword handle in each hand; I had to kind of force it as well as take a large chunk out of my magic bar to do it. I also had to shake off the large headache and slight disorientation that formed because of that; I probably should wait until I've trained a little more – or at all – before I try anything creative like that again.

I took a step forward and with a white flash ignited them with a flick of my wrists while emitting a sound file of an Elite roaring loudly through a loudspeaker program in my helmets' list of tools at high volume. Judging from their reaction, it was a rather effective strategy. One of the men, (Who had the unfortunate luck of being the closest to me) scrambled back on his arms, eventually getting up on his legs before running away ranting and screaming that I was some kind of a demon. I snorted in amusement; I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same. Before the man could get out of sight, I tagged him as an enemy.

Of the two that was left, one of them was charging into the cloud vaguely at me with a large cutlass. With a flick of the arm, I sidestepped the sword and severed it close to the handle. The man was stunned for a moment, looking at what used to be his sword, which now resembled an expensive paperweight. A moment was all I needed; I used the energy sword to run him through the belly, lifting as I did so, and saw it emerge from his back and retracted it out of him as he crumpled to the ground alive, but unconscious. (A fact that I quickly confirmed with my bioscanner, with a relieved sigh) I looked for the last guard and found him on the ground clutching his chest and leaning against the stonework in an awkward angle trying hard to get his breath back; if I had to guess, he hit so hard he collapsed one of his lungs. He looked around quite shocked: his one companion had fled, and as far as he knew, the one who charged me was now dead.

By now, he must have picked up on the translucent shifting outline that was me – that is seeing that he was looking more or less at me. He was barely able to wheeze, "Wh – who, or WHAT are you?" I turned and slowly walked towards the man with my swords crackling with energy out at my sides. I made sure to dip them every now and then to leave molten trails in the rock as I passed. I brought them close to his neck in a scissor formation. I summoned the most threatening voice I had; it wasn't hard. "Nevermind me. Now … where are the children you kidnapped? Mind you, I'm only going to ask you once. If you don't tell me, then I'll just have to find _another_ one of your friends and _ask_ them too. And then another, and so on until I find what I want. Either that, or I wipe out your little gang in the process and I'll have to find them on my own. Again, either way … your choice. What's it going to be?" The poor man was sweating so hard I could hear the hiss of evaporating sweat caused by the swords. He couldn't take it any longer and practically screamed, "Th – third floor, way back! Large door, y – you can't miss it! The boss is in there, he knows where they are! J – just please don't kill me!" The last bit came out more crying than screaming. After that exclamation, a large, steaming, yellow puddle formed around the man. I lifted a leg and shook it a bit. 'Aww man …' _And here I thought these guys were supposed to be these super macho hard assess … huh. Disappointing._

I deactivated the swords and the active camo and kneeled next to him with my head cocked to one side. In a calm voice I said to the man, "Thank you. I'm not going to hurt you or your friends – besides knocking them out, of course." I paused, thinking. "You know, this was actually much easier than I thought, otherwise I wouldn't have been so … well, _dramatic_ with you." The man eyed me with curiosity and a hint of suspicion up at me. "Dramatic? Like for show? Wait, so the man you ran through, he's alive?" I nodded. "Indeed. Let me put it this way: if I wanted you lot dead, I would've simply picked all three of you off from a mile away and we wouldn't be having this conversation. But … that's not what I do any more – not if it's avoidable; I made a promise to a friend. Besides … I was commissioned to bring you all in. Alive." Was it a bluff? Yes, I currently didn't have access to a sniper rifle; but _he_ didn't know that.

He looked pensive for a second. "So, what are you going to do now?" I looked coldly at him. "Bring you and your friends in, rescue the children you kidnapped, and reclaim everything you lot have stolen from those people – in short, I'm going to completely dismantle what you and the others have built. And you? What should I do with you?" The man gulped audibly. In one smooth motion, I knocked him out with the handle of the sword and then swapped it for a handful of zip ties. A few minutes later, I had the three thieves securely zip-tied around a thick pole I drove into the ground near enough to the fire. I _did_ want them alive when I came back for them after all; I didn't want to come back just to find a few frozen corpses.

There was only one other doorway in the small room, and it led further in. Lit candles, torches, and other small sources of light became a common sight along the blue/black stone walls every now and then, affording more-or-less consistent low-level lighting. I tried using my thermal filter only to get confusing images. I asked Mira about it. _There must be a mineral or rock composition in here that is interfering with it._ So no thermal. Great.

I eventually came upon a set of decoratively inlaid metal doors that hadn't seen a good cleaning in a long time. I pushed them open to find a stone staircase leading down that held blue candles on either side at regular intervals. I spawned my DMR and a silencer; it's time to get to work.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and saw a long hallway that sloped gently downwards with rooms to either side and I set to work clearing each room. A few of the rooms were used for storage; I cleared them quickly. One large room looked like it was used as a rec room; a few card tables, a couple of couches … the usual. No electronics though, although I guess that's to be expected. One of the rooms I came up on was set up like a kitchen with a mid-sized group of thieves eating at medium length tables inside. None had spotted me yet, so I took my time as I spawned two frags, pulled the pins, and rolled them into the room under the tables before I took cover behind the wall, shutting the door as I went. I could hear a muffled ***whump*** through the thick wooden door, as well as a small flash of light. I opened it and found several people unconscious: five men and eight women. I tied them up as well.

That done, I looked around, checking for enemies and shut the door again. I looked at my magic bar, it was at about half full. I remembered what the girl had said about replenishing it as I spied a pot of cooked food as my stomach growled. It looked like some kind of stew. I took off my helmet and grabbed a spoon and sampled it; not bad, but it was pretty bland for my taste. However, it would suffice. I took a ladle and had several bowls of it. Now, with my magic bar _and_ my stomach full, as well as the headache gone, I was back up to 100%.

With no more rooms to clear here, I followed the hallway and found a collapsed section before me with a breach in the wall to the side with a passageway dug into it at a steep incline. I followed it up and around and found myself in a similar hallway about one level up or so. I followed the stonework hall until I came to an intersection. One of the choices led to a staircase going up and the other led to a short hallway that looked like it opened up to a large room. I chose the first option. I rounded the top of the staircase to see … yet another hallway. I sighed; I was beginning to get bored of this place already. It just all looks the same after awhile. I soon found myself in a large room easily two stories high with a large stone throne perched atop a couple of steps right in the middle of the room. The perimeter consisted entirely of a series of large stone pillars through which bright light shone. The throne was empty, although I picked up two enemy signatures nearby. According to my radar, they were outside on what I saw to be a large terrace of some kind. I listened carefully and was able to pick up what they were saying.

I heard a commanding voice say, "We're breached?! What do you mean we're breached?! What do I pay you for then?" The voice sighed roughly, "How many men? Ten? Twenty?" I then heard a snively little voice, I assumed it was the man who ran from me. He said, "O-one, sir." I could just about feel the change as the other man's demeanor iced over, " _One_. One man got past THREE of my best guards?!" I had to force myself to remain calm so as to not snigger at that. _His three best guards? Tch. Yeah right._ The man continued, "How could you let this happen?! We're at a critical point here; one man like that can endanger this entire operation!" I heard him take a few slow, pondering steps to one side before he asked in a too-calm voice, "Tell me … have you ever wanted to see the countryside?" There was a short pause before the other man spoke up in a hopeful, yet confused voice, "Y-yes sir. I've always dreamed of seeing the country, wandering the world …" The dangerous tone came back full force as the man said, "So, you want to see the country, do you?" I peeked my head around a pillar to see what was going on; whatever he had planned, it couldn't be good for the other man. Too many alarms were going off in my head for this to go any other way; I wasn't disappointed. A formless mass of black smoke came from the raised sleeve of a man in a scarlet cloak and wrapped itself around the man's throat before it lifted him slightly into the air and pulled him close as he said coldly, "Fine then. Go see the country. That is if you survive the fall, the cold, and the wolves. Have fun. Consider this your expulsion." He raised him up high and threw him off the terrace and down the steep mountainside. The man looked down and lowered his arm as the screams of the other man dwindled away.

I placed my DMR over my shoulder and walked out of the shadows, I wasn't worried. "Now … see, that wasn't very nice … he was just trying to warn you." The man's hood turned towards me briefly before he placed his hands behind him and continued facing the scenery. "Good help can be so hard to find these days, you know. He was supposed to guard our main entrance; he failed in his duty. I have no patience for failure." I found that interesting. "Really? Because I've personally taken out most of this fortress. Would you show the same kindness to those people as you showed your guard here?" The man threw his head back and laughed at the question, "Why of course! Those who can't do their job have no place in my crew; I can always find more to replace lost numbers." I stepped forward, "Well … I'm afraid I can't let that happen." He turned to face me fully at that, his face was hidden in the darkness of his cloak, "Oh really? And you're going to stop me are you?" I shrugged, "Well, _yeah_. That's what they're paying me for after all. So … are we going to do this, or what? I've got other jobs I need to do before I can return to my guild."

He reached up and began fumbling with the cloaks clasp, "Impatient to find your end, are you? Very well, come get it." The cloak dropped and I saw a well-built man in a black leather vest and pants. He wore some kind of leather wrap on his forearms which spiked chains were wrapped around. What I could see of his arms were covered in strange tattoos. He had sharp facial features and black spiky hair. Mira snickered, _What kind of look is this guy going for, 'Anime protagonist?' Feh._

Winds picked up as he lifted a foot or so off into the air. Dark clouds began to form and rotate around his arms and shins. I looked at his face and asked, "So … what's your name, Mr. Confident?" He smirked at me, "I'd tell you, but you won't live long enough to have to remember it." He reached back and began to swiftly move the clouds around his arms, "Enough of this talk! I've grown tired of you. Begone!" He placed his hands palms out at me and a blast of dark clouds came at me with the intent to swipe me off the terrace … and harmlessly blew past me. I mocked a yawn. He was quite surprised at that. "What the … how are you still standing? My storm magic should have blown you right off of this mountainside! Just how heavy are you?! I SAID BEGONE!" Again the clouds twisted their way around his arms before another blast started to come at me. I was just attacked with magic; I should probably retaliate. I requipped my speed boost enhancement and spun my arms in a tight cone before me counter to the rotation of his clouds. By the time his attack made it to me, it had devolved into a harmless gust of wind. He was not pleased at that. "Geh, tough one, aren't you? You're pissing me off!" His hair began to stiffen and point out at (Even more) odd angles. He raised a finger at me, "STORM'S WRATH!" A powerful arc of lightning crossed the gap in a fraction of a second. Eep.

I opened my eyes after a second … I'm still here? _It's ok, Jai! I redirected the lightning into the shield capacitors. For all intents and purposes, you now have a short-lasting overshield._ I took a peek at my shield bar, it read "500% overcharge." I was pleasantly surprised. 'Well, shit. Mira, I could kiss you.' I could hear the smile in her voice, _Well, you can repay me by kicking his ass!_ I clenched a fist. 'One asskicking, coming up!'

My turn. I ran up to him, and he tried to use his lightning attack at me again; he missed. I broke two of his fingers in response. "Nuh uh. You're not doing that again, _although_ I should thank you for the overshield." He looked up at me, face contorted in pain and asked, "Over-what now?" I grabbed him by the shoulders, "Overshield!" and headbutted him twice hard enough to deplete the overshield. Now dazed, I grabbed him by the arm and slammed him into the ground. He tried climbing out of the large crater his body formed; first his arm, then his face appeared. I requipped my sidearm and aimed it between his eyes. Once more, he asked, "Over ..?" I narrowed my eyes at him, "Over this, asshole." And pulled the trigger. Twice. I picked up storm-magic-what's-his-face and dragged his ass down the stairs by the back of his shirt. Now at the intersection I found earlier, I left him at it – for the time being – and shot him a few more times. "And stay down." The only sound I heard from him was breathing and a small groan.

I walked down the hall and came out into the large room. Sunlight came in from large naturally occurring holes in the stone roof. On one end of the room was a tunnel workers could go in and mine, which were currently unoccupied as I probably incapacitated all of the miners. _Jai! Over there in the corner, what is that?_ In one corner where she was directing me, partially obscured by rubble and dirt, I saw something suspicious on the floor. I carefully removed the debris and found a large flat shard of a mural. Close by, I found more. Altogether, I found about fifteen fragments of differing sizes and shapes. I loosely put together what I could find; it seemed I had all of the pieces. They were in pretty rough shape, but I stored what I could find. _These must be what the old man was talking about. Perhaps we will be able to reconstruct them at a later date._ Near the tunnel was a series of long connected metal wagons that held rubble, which I emptied. I looked around for something to haul them; I didn't exactly relish the idea of dragging metal carts laden with children, thieves, and who knows what else all the way back to town. That being said, I would still do what was needed to be done to complete this job. Failure was not an option; not now, not ever.

On the other side of the room, I spied some kind of red, rusty tractor on treads. Bingo. I climbed in and stared at the odd dashboard for a minute. I shook my head and tried what was obviously a mechanical ignition sequence only to hear it click. I frowned, got out, and searched for the release for the hood so I could try and fix it. I grew up around mining equipment and was being taught how to use them, how hard could it be?

After a minute or so of searching, I located the hood; it opened outward and upward from the right side. I stood there for a moment or two just looking at what was before me. "What … the hell." It looked like a perfectly solid, spherical, crystalline ball of fire centered around tanks and pipes of water; in short, it seemed to run on steam power. The … ball of crystalline flame was hot to the touch. This must be a lacrima, a flame lacrima, if I were to guess. Crude, but obviously effective. I found the problem easily enough; a loose wire coming from the ignition sequence to another part of the engine. I reconnected the lead to the terminal and the console lit up. We're in business. Now … on to other matters.

The next twenty minutes were spent collecting all the knocked out thugs and placing them into the first few wagons. The last one I collected was the leader. I collected and set him inside and began to walk away when he woke up. Good thing I shot him a few extra times earlier as he was still wearing off from the effects. He drunkenly tried to stand. I tried pushing him over, but he wasn't going to have any of it. I simply reached toward and roughly yanked his feet out from under him before shooting him again a few more times.

Now with the enemies taken care of, I had to find the children. They had to be somewhere close by because I had been everywhere else in this damned place. They would probably keep them close by ... I briefly thought about interrogating the boss, but that ship had sailed.

I found a suspicious door in short order. I tried opening the door only to find that it wouldn't budge; the door was barricaded from the other side. I switched to thermal to make sure no one was on the other side before I took out the energy sword that I still had at my side and severed the locking mechanism and the hinges from the door. The door fell out onto the floor and I found the floor just inside was littered with smoldering wooden debris and bits of cloth – beds. The children had made a barricade with their beds. I couldn't help but feel a small amount of pride at that; I thought that was actually pretty smart for kids.

I stepped through the door and I was immediately set upon from above; whoever it was, sat on the back of my shoulders and attempted an attack on my head only to be thwarted by my shields, which glowed light blue each time he struck them. I knew they were there – I wasn't surprised by the attack.

"Let us go! I want to go home!" Every word was met with a strike from a fist. I gingerly picked the squirming child up and brought him out in front of me and he just stared daggers at me. I sighed and asked, "You done trying to hit me kid?" In response, he merely stuck his tongue out at me. I gently set him down in front of me, kneeled to his level, and presented my shoulder pauldron to him so he could see what was emblazoned on it. He looked at me with a suspicious gaze and arched an eyebrow. "What does UNSC mean?" I sighed. Wrong pauldron.

He eyed me suspiciously again for a minute before shaking his head and turning it to one side. "Guys, come on out. It's ok, he's from Fairy Tail." A second later, small children of various ages appeared from hiding behind other furniture and such hiding places. I looked at the kid, "You _can_ trust me you know. Your village sent me to rescue you." He was still suspicious of me, but he consented and had the others follow me. I led them to the tram [I guess that's what they're called] and had him tell the others to pile in.

I kneeled next to him. "Now, the last thing I need to do is find where these men took the things they stole from you and your village. Do you know where that would be?" He nodded. "I heard some of them groaning about how much stuff they had to carry back to the storeroom." He led me down a few hallways and eventually we came across a room filled to the brink of books, furniture, treasures and other valuables. I eyed him and asked him how he knew where to find this. He told me he found a way to get into the hallway outside their room via the air ducts and had been exploring – looking for a way for him and the others to escape when he found this room. Although doing so got him caught by the guards.

Awestruck at the sheer amount of material gathered here, I consulted Mira on this matter. "Mira? How are we going to do this?" The kid looked at me with a confused expression; I merely held out a finger for silence. _We could always use that useful technique you use to store things._ Of course. I'm still not used to this whole magic thing. I placed a palm on the pile of treasure and concentrated. I imagined storing all this away in a large chest; like the heroes in the adventuring stories I had read about as a kid might store their gold in. A very bright white light enveloped us for a moment before diminishing to reveal a barren room. Needless to say, the kid was impressed. After getting the children and the thieves ready for the elements, I drove the whole thing back into town. As we rounded the bend I found a horn function and pressed it a few times for someone to get curious enough to come out and check. It didn't take very long as there was nothing else to be heard outside besides the wind.

About ten minutes later, it was a happy time of children reuniting with their families. I was embraced by fathers and mothers alike who were moved to tears over what I had done for them. I was eventually approached by a slim man of average height with long, tied up black hair with two bangs framing his face and an unruly tuft covered his forehead, though his lavender eyes were still visible behind his circular-lensed glasses. This was Lahar of the Custody Enforcement Unit from the Magic Council.

He wore a long blue jacket with pink edges and strapped cuffs over a high-collared shirt bearing the Council's signature ankh-like symbol. His attire also featured white pants held up by simple belt, white gloves, a white cape held closed by a gem-decorated buckle, and distinctive shoes, seemingly bearing a serpentine pattern.

Behind him, I noticed the men that had followed Lahar came towards me and gathered in a crescent formation before me; they were in a garb similar to what Lahar was wearing. What were probably normally stoic guardsmen were somewhat begrudgingly smiling slightly at the happy townspeople.

He briefly looked me over and adjusted his glasses with a finger in a smooth, practiced motion. "Hello. Are you one of the ones who did all this?" One of his subordinates checked a clipboard and piped up stating, "Um, sir? According to the elder and his granddaughter, this man did this all by himself. He was the only one who came." This got the full and undivided attention of all of Lahar's men, not to mention Lahar himself. "Truly? Did you do all of this on your own?" I nodded to him. "Yes sir." He spent the next uncomfortable moments slowly looking me over from head to toe. "And …" He brought up a white clipboard of his own, "… what guild do you belong to?" I turned slightly and presented my pauldron, the correct one, to Lahar and his men. "Fairy Tail, sir." This earned me a subtle double take. Apparently I was full of surprises for this man and his subordinates. "Fairy Tail? Huh. Um … ok. We were told to expect criminals, where are they?" I gestured to the first few carts, which were still full of slumbering thieves.

It was then I noticed one of the carts had a noticeable void where a body should've been that wasn't there before. It was then that someone rushed up to Lahar from behind and knocked the two guards behind him away, sent Lahar to the ground with a kick to the side, and raised both arms to attack wielding what appeared to be a large piece of driftwood as an improvised club. "LAHAR! I've finally got you!" I quickly closed the distance between myself and Lahar. _The boss! The boss had awoken._

I intercepted his improvised club on the way down with one hand and gripped it so hard it shattered to pieces in the space between us, leaving the man very surprised and with two handfuls of splinters. A second later, I grabbed one of his hands holding the handle of what used to be a club with my other hand and in a fluid motion, swung him bodily and introduced his face to the dirt, stunning him. I spawned my DMR and readied it. "I told you to STAY PUT!", and shot him twice in the face.

Lahar looked over at me with a shocked expression as I picked up the now unconscious leader like a sack of potatoes and walked over to the tram cart and returned him. After getting to his feet, brushing himself off, and righting his glasses, he came near and gasped. "This man is Hanzo the Storm, leader of the Broken Hills bandit gang … we've been looking for them for a long time." The man I now knew as Hanzo groaned in the cart but didn't stir. "Thanks to your help, we'll be putting him and his entire gang behind bars for a very long time." They piled the sleeping men into specialized transport vehicles and departed with a wave. It wasn't until then that I was called towards the village elder and his granddaughter – who were hugging the kid who I met when I came for the children earlier.

He smiled ever so slightly. "Oh, you again." What I assumed to be his mother made a fist and bopped him gently on the top of his head. "Now Jael, that's no way to talk to the man who rescued you." I looked at her, "Mam, you should be very proud of him. The best I could tell, he looked after the other younger children, and when I came in to rescue them, he – thinking I was an enemy – positioned himself at the ceiling before the door and (Futily) attacked me. He even set up a barricade before the door to protect the others." Jael gasped, "How did you know?" I looked over to the boy and gestured at his hands, "Your palms are raw and full of splinters. The ceiling supports – the ones you were hanging from – were metal; the beds and other furniture in the room was made of wood. Anyway, you might want to get your hands treated as soon as you can. Getting splinters _and_ tetanus in one day doesn't sound like my idea of fun."

The woman beamed and hugged her son closer. "Anyway, that takes care of the children and the thieves; was there anything left to take back?" She held a hopeful expression in her face, but I could tell she wasn't expecting much. I nodded. "Yes mam. If you would please tell everyone to make some room, I shall fulfill the final request of this village." My request complied with, I raised my hands and concentrated on bringing the piles of treasure, furniture, and such back into existence. The entire crowd gasped and marveled at all of the riches of their combined livelihoods gathered into one place. "Why, that looks like it's EVERYTHING that was stolen from us! Wh – how did you do this?" I shrugged. "It's kind of what I do now." The old man grunted and after sharing a look with his granddaughter, they called out to one of their subordinates and they produced a large chest full to the top of the currency I had seen Lucy handle back at the restaurant in Hargeon. But they weren't done as three more chests of similar size and contents were provided. "Your handsome payment, as agreed upon. We were content to part with 2,200,000 "

She smiled at me. "What could we ever do repay you for what you've done?" I stepped forward and kneeled in front of her son and put a hand on Jael's head and ruffled his hair playfully. Now that I had time to take a good look at the boy, he reminded me an awful lot of my brother when he was younger. I looked up at her and replied sadly, "Look after them … protect them; make sure they grow up to be the fantastic adults I know they'll grow into." The way I stated my reply no doubt confused them but I politely took my leave of them, stored my earnings, and found transport. I would go back to Magnolia, but not before I completed the handful of jobs I had grabbed from the request board.

 **[So I decided to make a fluff chapter to showcase Jai and Mira working together. I think it came out pretty well.]**


	7. Confession

[Last updated: 05/07/18]

The wagon I had ridden in for a while finally came to a stop at one of the exterior gates in Magnolia, and I hopped out. Having already used some of my pay to bring myself back to Magnolia (I had to have help … it was rather embarrassing), I left for the guildhall and ran into Mirajane, who I had seen coming on my motion tracker. She was carrying a rather large basket in one arm; it looked like it held more than a few items. 'She must be out doing errands.' _I like her; she's always a cheery ball of sunshine._ She caught sight of me and waved as she walked over to me. "Oh, Jai! Hello! We received word that you were returning to the city after your jobs. I was hoping I'd run into you. So, how did the job in Lynna Village go?"

I glanced at her and replied, "I'm happy to say it was a resounding success. The thieves were brought in, the children were reunited with their families, and everything they had stolen was returned. However, in order to do so, I had to deal with someone by the name of Lahar of the Custody Enforcement Unit; and by the way the men around him acted, I surmise he was in charge." I knew that much because one of Lahar's men had given me a few papers to sign and, _surprisingly_ enough, it said so at the top … just like every other official document I've ever read. It seems bureaucracy doesn't change no matter where you go.

She nodded, "Yep. He's in charge of that. So … the Magic Council was involved. The master is going to love that. Ah well, I suppose it couldn't have been helped. Good work on your first job, though. Now, _since_ it's your first job, you can keep the earnings; but from now on, the guild will have to take a cut … but, we can go over all that at a later date."

I looked around and asked, "Um, Mirajane? Where's the master? I mean, it's great to see you again, but … I just thought he'd be here or something when I came back. I mean after all that trouble he went through to see me off ... you know?" She thought for a second as we walked, "Hmm, well he did say that he wanted to meet you when you came back, but he had to leave town for a conference. Until he gets back, I'm covering for him. If you find a job you're interested in taking, let me know."

I asked what kind of conference he was going to. She replied , "One for guildmasters. Every once in awhile, they all get together to talk about the state of things." She tilted her head with a finger lightly to her lips in thought. "It's like the magic council, but not." There's that phrase again. "Hey Mirajane? I've been kind of meaning to ask someone about this for a while, but what exactly _is_ the magic council? Everyone keeps talking about it; is it some kind of ruling body?"

She nodded, "Ah, yes. Natsu and Lucy _did_ say you weren't from around Fiore." As we walked, she went on to explain that the magic council – otherwise known as Era, for reasons unknown to me – was the most powerful organization in the world; it was one step below the government. I guess it was their equivalent of ONI. The magic council had ten members and it was their job to uphold all magical rules and regulations. If a wizard were to break magical law, they would be tried by the magic council. After the magic council, there were the different guild master leagues, which were local groups of wizards that worked together. After them were the individual guild masters: it was their job to pass on the decrees of the council. They also communicated with other guild masters on a regular basis; they appeared to keep everything together. All in all, it sounded like a stressful job. "What about dark guilds and wizards? I've heard a little chatter about them." She fell silent for a moment, thinking, "Well, they're the bad apples, I suppose. They've chosen not to join any of the leagues; most of them are even involved in magical crime." Initially, I was surprised … but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I suppose criminals – no matter where you go – would take _any_ advantage they had over law enforcement, up to and including the use of magic. Although, I suppose that would start a magical arms race between criminals and law enforcement … but, I guess that wasn't my problem.

We walked about ten feet before I turned to her and said, "Hey, uh … Mirajane?" She looked over to me as we walked, "Yes?" I hesitated for a moment before I continued, "There's been more than a few things I've wanted to tell you – all of you – for a little while now, but for the sake of caution, I didn't know whether or not I should, so … I remained silent." She stopped and looked at me, "Well? What is it?" It wasn't said with impatience, just … curiosity – like she'd been _expecting_ me to say something on my own time. She must have been talking with Makarov. "Well … it's not something I can just tell you. You're going to want to gather the others and sit down, this could take a while … you're going to want to hear what I have to say." She asked me how long this was going to take. "Well, in all likelihood, you guys might want to clear your afternoons. It is … quite a tale."

Before I could speak more though, we heard clapping coming from around the corner as a lone figure appeared. They were in Mjolnir that I recognized very well – it was Alice; that much was clear. However, there appeared to be some kind of glowing crimson … runes all over her chest plate; in the center of her chest, which everything revolved around in different concentric arrays, was a glowing emblem; it resembled a stylized 'g'. We then heard a sinisterly eloquent male voice emanate from her, it was ever so slightly distorted by the magic. The markings glowed brighter as the voice spoke; the overall effect was quite unsettling … though I suppose that was by design. "Yes, yes ... very well done. Not bad … well for a _fairy_ , at any rate."

She didn't otherwise move, but Mirajane's face took on a _fearsome_ expression at the sight. _Check what I said earlier; she's a cheery ball of sunshine until you get her pissed. Adding "Pissing off Mirajane" to a list of things to_ _not_ _do._ "Master Jose! Is that you?!" Alice did a little theatrical bow, "Yes, my dear, in the flesh. … eh, sort of." Mirajane took a step forward, "Just what do you think you're doing to that poor woman?!"

Alice gestured vaguely at me, "Well, I recently received wind that your _little_ guild had just found itself a powerful new addition, as you see here. Now, I couldn't let the _second-best_ guild in Fiore have all the fun, couldn't I? So I sent out my best men to find one of my own to match yours – but I couldn't find one. But imagine my surprise when I found this little one knocking at MY door. I brought her in, but she _is_ a smart one; she quickly figured out that my guild wasn't – shall we say, traditional – and was about to leave. Now, I couldn't have so powerful a _tool_ get away, so I placed her under a little spell of my own design."

"Anyway, I wanted to show Makarov what I could do with my new _est acquisition_ … where is he, by the way?" Mirajane smiled sweetly and feigned ignorance, "Why, master Porla, you'd know where he was if you attended the guild masters conference anymore." I could hear the frown in his voice, "Bah. You know very well I haven't attended that conference of theirs since that fight. Well. Regardless, I've been waiting for awhile, trying to find Makarov but, I'm afraid I got _quite_ bored. I found _something to amuse myself with while I waited_." I didn't notice this until I reflected upon it later, but her fists were stained with blood. Her hands were trembling slightly, and her whole body was stiff – unnaturally so. It was like she was being controlled by a marionette. I gritted my teeth. No, not again! I'm _not_ losing another teammate! I would rather _die_ before I lost another.

The whole thing left me wanting to find whoever was controlling her – this "master" Porla – and beat him into a thick paste. However my training took over and I calmed down quickly. I had to save that anger for when I actually found him; until then, it wouldn't do me any good to waste it on people who didn't deserve it.

Worried for Alice, I took a step towards her. "I don't know just who you think you are, or where you come from, but that woman that you are parading around like a _puppet_ is under my command. I demand that you release her this instant." I then looked into her faceplate, "Alice, don't worry. I don't know how yet, but I'll get you out of there." She nodded almost imperceptibly.

Alice began to walk around us at a deliberate, slow rate, her head trained on me. He eventually said, "My, my … aren't we feisty?" I narrowed a look at her. "Let. Her. Go. Harm her further, and I _will_ make you pay." To back up my threat, I spawned an M6, but pointed it towards the ground. Safety first. The entity laughed at me, "Oh, what are you going to do with _that?!_ Shoot me? You do that, and the girl is the only one who will get hurt. Besides, I didn't come to fight … necessarily. I came to … _chat_ with Makarov. However, he's obviously not around. I have other matters to see to, so I shall take my leave."

I could just about sense the menacing grin as she drew back her arm and threw a rather nasty looking dagger right at my head. Time slowed down as my mind raced to find an out. The distance was too short to activate and use an enhancement … so the only move left was to dodge. It was then that I felt the now familiar tingly feeling of magical energy, but this time in my left leg. I don't know _how_ I knew it, but something deep inside of me was telling me to stomp the ground with my foot.

I took a step forward, focused the feeling on my foot, and brought it down, sending a spider web pattern into the road. As before, white tendrils of energy shot from my foot into the ground and around the paving stones that made up the road below us, lighting up the stones from below, breaking them up, and causing myself and Mirajane to quickly sink into the center of an eight foot crater in the ground that sent shards of rock flying everywhere. Thankfully, the dagger missed and embedded itself into the road.

The entity controlling Alice made her do a large jump back and away into the air and disappeared into the shadows between the buildings. The last thing we heard was the man's ominous laughter echoing off the walls around us. The whole thing sent the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Mirajane shook her head in disgust after Alice disappeared and said, "How repugnant. I've known for a long time that he was bad news. But this just takes the cake; to use such magic on that poor girl?" She shook her head and looked in the direction where Alice left. "From what she was wearing – that armor … she is with you, right?" I grimaced at what had befallen my comrade. "Yes. She's a member of my team." She drew forward and pulled the blade from the stonework.

Curious, I asked, "So … eh, what was that all about?" She sighed and placed the dagger carefully into her basket. "In a nutshell, Fairy Tail is currently the number two ranked guild in Fiore. Number one is a massive guild called Phantom Lord; it has branches all over Fiore, but its main building is right here in Magnolia. It is headed by another of the ten Wizard Saints, Jose Porla – that's him we just talked to. He, and his guild, have been our rivals ever since the annual guild master meeting six years ago; not to mention a general source of misery for those in Fairy Tail, and obviously the master, as well. The way I heard it, Jose and the master were drunk along with a number of other guild masters – as these things go – and he eventually started boasting loudly about his guild and badmouthing Fairy Tail. Needless to say, the novelty of it tarnished quickly. Now, he wasn't going to have any of it, so they ended up in a fight with master Makarov emerging the victor."

She then wondered aloud, "But I wonder about what he said about amusing himself?" It was then we heard a weak groan come around the shadowy corner that Alice had come from. To our horror, we rounded the corner and found a man sitting on the ground; he was leaning against a building in a small pool of blood. It looked like he was beaten savagely. I got closer and I recognized him. Not only was he a member of Fairy Tail, but he was the man Natsu had fought with when Lucy and I had first entered the guildhall. Of course, he was in considerably worse shape now than when I saw him last; but to know the full extent of the damage, I had to use a diagnostic medical scanner I would find in a field medical kit. I would've just used the bioscanner, but it wasn't designed as a full medical diagnostic device; as such, it just read the comparatively simple things that a soldier in the field quickly used to check on his squad, like heartbeat, body temperature and other minor minutia – this device performed an in-depth, comprehensive full-body scan.

I knelt over him as he groaned and tried to speak, but he could only get out a strangled, anguished rasp. For his effort, he coughed and spat a small amount of bloody saliva. Mirajane gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder, "Shhhh; you've been badly hurt. Don't try to talk." He merely groaned and complied. She sighed and ruffled through her hair with a hand as she did so and looked over to me with a worried expression. "I have had my fair share of fights, but what has been done to him – I know this is bad, really bad. He isn't in a fit enough state to move, I can tell that much. Any ideas?" I looked down to injured man below. "In the interest of time, I'll keep this short; you're about to see some things that I _will_ explain after this. But know that above all else, this man will live if I have any say on it." She paused for a moment and the man started coughing up more blood. I could see the questions in her eyes, but she knew that now wasn't the time to ask them. She looked up at me and nodded with a serious expression, "Do whatever you can." I nodded curtly. "Right. I'll need your help to hand me things."

I activated the holographic display on my forearm and spawned several white octagonal boxes that had a large, thick, red plus mark in the center. On one of the sides, it read, " **EMERGENCY FIELD MEDICAL KIT** " in bold, black lettering. I rummaged through the box nearest me and grabbed a canister of biofoam from inside and held it up so she could see, "I'll need you to go through the boxes and hand me these; I'll need as many as you can find. While you're doing that, I'll lay him flat and sedate him before I scan him with this." I held up the medical scanner for her to see: it was small enough device that it fit comfortably in your hand: you pointed the unit at the patient and pulled the trigger, traveling from head to toe as you're doing so. After it compiles the information, it gives a readout of what was wrong with the patient, along with suggested means of treatment. As a bonus, if the person diagnosing was wearing Mjolnir or comparable technology, it would sync with the suits' holographic projection capabilities and display a rendering of the damage above the body that would be updated as treatment progressed; progress was sensed through an uplink with the suits' sensor array.

I scanned him with the device and turned my head to look at Mirajane who was watching intensely. "Let's see what we've got to deal with, eh?" She nodded with a worried expression. I reached toward and grasped the air above the man's navel, and made a twisting motion before pulling up and out; the gesture needed to activate the hologram. Above the man appeared a ghostly double of him. The render wasn't good indeed. According to the many leader lines, he had a mild concussion, cuts and bruises were everywhere, his arm was broken just below the right elbow, his left shoulder was dislocated, and he had two shallow stab wounds … one in the belly and one in the left leg and some internal bleeding evident around his diaphragm. Finally, I noted with some interest that defensive wounds were evident on his knuckles and arms; at least he went down swinging.

I looked over the damage and nodded. All in all, nothing immediately fatal; he got off lucky. In a bout of serious close combat with a Spartan, not many people could do so and walk away to tell the tale. However, an important caveat should be noted here: Alice wasn't the one fighting him, and so Mr. Porla was limited to simple hand to hand combat. Even so … even burdened with that limitation, he really did a number on this poor man.

I started the procedure by injecting him with the polypseudomorphine from one of the boxes and then set up a sterile field emitter I found in my box as a safety measure. I cut his shirt off and ripped the fabric of his pants away from the stab wound in his leg. I set his shoulder (With careful instructions from Mira) and then his broken arm. I brought up my can of biofoam to bear, cocked the armature, and thumbed the release mechanism before wrapping his elbow in white foam that hardened quickly. She handed me another can, watching intently. After priming it, I inserted the tip into his belly and filled it with a portion of foam, sealing up the wound. As for his leg wound, I used the stitch kit and the battle dressings. I dealt with the internal bleeding and finished the process by treating as many of his larger cuts as I could with what remained of the battle dressings. All that done, he looked much better than when I started; the readout agreed. With him stabilized, I deactivated the device and looked him over before I grunted in approval.

"There. I'm no medic, but the biofoam should hold him until we can get him to a qualified physician." I looked over at Mirajane, who looked rather bewildered, and up till now was silent. I sighed and said, "Let's get him into the guildhall and I'll answer any questions you or any of the others have. I owe you all that much, at least." She paused for a second, thinking, blinking rapidly. "Well, you're in luck. As far as I can recall, most of the members are back from jobs today and should be just milling around."

I gingerly picked up the wounded man and carried him bridal style in the direction of the guildhall. We got close to the guildhall and Loke came into sight. He fixed me with a weird look; I could tell he wanted to ask, but gestured for me to hurry. He opened the large doors and yelled, "I'VE GOT BAD NEWS! It's Erza! She's on her way here!" Everyone present practically yelled and raised a commotion.

I set the man down on a table that they cleared and he was quickly seen to medically. I turned towards Mirajane, "So, uh … who's Erza?" She closed the doors behind us before she responded, "That's right. You haven't met her yet. She's the strongest female wizard we've got in Fairy Tail; she uses requip magic." She chuckled slightly, "And she can be a little more than intimidating sometimes." The entire guild went completely silent as each head was turned towards the doors. 'Oh come on, she can't be _that_ bad, can she?' _I don't know … these people look pretty concerned about her. Perhaps she's just really intense?_

Pretty soon, the sound of heavy footsteps can be heard. I could hear people muttering in low voices about it. _Jeese, from these reactions, you'd get the idea she was some kind of demon!_ Soon enough, the doors opened and bright light shown from outside. A feminine silhouette could be seen holding a massive horn over her shoulder that was about five times her size; it was a rather impressive feat for someone who wasn't a Spartan. She walked forward and set the horn down with an audible ***thud***. She shut the doors and placed a hand and lightly leaned on what I saw to be an enormous jewel and gold encrusted tusk. I was finally able to get a good look at her.

She was a young woman with long, scarlet hair and chocolate brown eyes. She had a very gifted bust and a slender, amazingly voluptuous figure. (What I could see of it, anyway; her armor was a little bulky but appeared well-made) She appeared to be wearing a custom-made steel cuirass with a thin yellow cross on it off to one side, steel gauntlets, steel bracers, steel pauldrons, a blue knee high skirt, and black boots. There were even wing-like decorative armor on her elbows. I saw her Fairy Tail stamp was blue and was located on the middle of her left upper arm.

At that moment, wind blew in from an open window to gently blow her hair off to one side as she surveyed the room. All of a sudden, the world slowed _way_ down; the only thing I could focus on was this beautiful, immensely strong woman in front of me. It took a few seconds for me to realize Mira was talking to me. _Jai! Jai? Hello? Can you hear me? Earthland to Jai, come down please, there is this chick in your head who wants to talk to you!_ That snapped me out of my reverie. 'Oh. Um, hi. What's up.' _What's up. What's up?! I've been trying to talk to you for about a minute! Why did yo-_ She paused briefly _, Oh. I see. '_ Wait. What do you mean "I see"?' She projected her face onto the top corner of my visor with a mischievous smile on her face. She spoke to me inside my helmet with a teasing lilt, "You _like_ her, don't you?" I felt my face grow hot at that remark; what the hell? "So you _do_ like her …" Confused, I looked at her, "I didn't … I mean … what? Ugh. Can we talk about this later?" She rolled her eyes but maintained the smile, "Sure, loverboy, sure. But we're not done with this conversation; you can bet on that!"

Back in reality, Erza said, "I have returned. Where is master Makarov?" Mirajane spoke up, "Welcome back, Erza! The master's at a conference right now." She nodded once in understanding, "I see." One guy near her asked her about the giant tusk. She fixed him with a withering look, "It's the horn of a monster I defeated. The locals were so thankful that they decorated it and gave to me as a souvenir. _Do you have a problem with that?_ " He raised his hands in a gesture of defense and shook his head frantically; obviously, he was intimidated. I could just about _feel_ the annoyance coming from her right now. However, I don't think she was like this normally; something was up.

Erza cast a stern look to those around her, "Now _listen up!_ While I was on the road, I heard a few things. Word is, Fairy Tail is causing nothing but trouble as of late. Master Makarov may not care, but _I_ most certainly do." She then looked around; Cana was chugging away on a cask of something. "Cana!" The woman winced and quickly set the cask down. "You need to start controlling your drinking." A man I hadn't seen before wearing some kind of black one piece jumpsuit was dancing in the background behind her. "Vegitor." He stopped dancing and looked up. "Please take the dancing outside." Smoke wafted over from one of the other tables. She inhaled, "Wakaba! Get rid of that _filthy_ habit!" A man nearby winced as she yelled at him. He was a thin man with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. The most notable thing I saw about him was his hair, being styled in what looked like a large light brown pompadour. She then cast a look over to the job board, I saw Nab lurking nearby. "Nab!" He flinched visibly and looked over his shoulder at Erza. "I suspected I'd find you dawdling in front of the request board. JUST PICK A JOB!" I could see Macao nearby, trying to quietly edge himself away from her wrath. He didn't edge far enough. "Macao!" She was silent for a moment before she tilted her head to one side and sighed with her eyes closed. Macao blurted, "Just please say something!" Erza put a hand to her forehead, shook her head at him, and said in tired voice, "I don't even know where to begin with you. You cause so much trouble I've almost given up." _Wow. She's really tearing into everyone. I guess she helps keep order around here._

By then, Mirajane and I had made it to the bar; she went behind the counter and started filling orders as I gently took a seat near Lucy. I asked for some more of the tasty fruit juice. (I'll say hi to her and Natsu in a bit, I was curious where this was going.) Erza looked around, "Are Natsu and Gray here?" Happy emitted an "Aye" nearby the duo in question, giving their position away. Gray had his right arm over the back of Natsu's neck, and Natsu mirrored the image; their other arms were clasped in front of them like they were congratulating … something. (Perhaps some kind of dance or cultural … thing?) They were both facing Erza with a forced smile. Gray spoke up with a cheery voice, "Oh, hey there Erza! We're just hanging out here, like good friends tend to do!" Natsu nodded, "Aye!" Lucy loudly asked why he was talking like Happy. Erza – either used to this behavior from them, or just not noticing the artificiality – crossed her arms and nodded approvingly, "That's great. I'm quite pleased to see you two getting along so well. However, it's only natural for even the best of friends to lock horns every now and then." Gray stiffly commented, "I don't know if we're the _best_ of friends …" Natsu, meanwhile, hadn't progressed from a scared sounding 'Aye'. _Did he break?_

Lucy asked what had gotten into Natsu. Mirajane giggled and said, "He's scared. A few years ago, he challenged Erza to a fight and she beat him up pretty bad." Lucy flinched slightly, " _That_ was a stupid thing to do!" Macao chuckled at a table nearby, "After that, she found Gray walking around naked, so she decided to beat him up too!" Cana, who was sitting next to Macao smirked. "And let's not forget that she also beat up Loke for trying to hit on her." I suddenly got the mental image of her punching him in the face with a deadpan expression. She continued, "He _totally_ deserved it, though." Lucy did a small shrug, "Yeah; I can't say I blame her."

All of a sudden, Erza asked Natsu and Gray for a favor. "While traveling, I overheard something that has me worried. Normally, I would consult with the master before acting, but he's not here, and this is a matter of utmost urgency. The two of you are among the strongest wizards here; I could really use your help." Everyone was sent murmuring amongst themselves at that. "We'll meet at the train station tomorrow morning." Natsu and Gray shared a look.

All that taken care of, she looked around and nodded in approval. She walked over to the bar and took a chair a few down from me and ordered a drink. She took a sip and spoke into the glass to no one in particular, "You know, word of the guild causing trouble isn't the _only_ thing I heard on my way back … I heard tell of a mage in strange armor from a far land traveling from town to town wielding gun-style requip magic using weapons and fighting techniques none has ever seen the like before. He was seen taking on high-ranking normal jobs single-handedly." She had the attention of everyone around us within earshot. "Word is, he alone took down an _entire_ bandit crew terrorizing a small village out east; twenty five thieves and their boss were taken into custody. The kidnapped children of said village, and all of their stolen valuables were returned. No property was even damaged. On top of that, this mage is said to have joined our guild only a few days ago; does this description sound familiar to anyone?" My ears were practically on fire at this point; I could almost feel the weight of more than a few people looking my way.

 _Dude! She's talking about you! Say something!_ I sighed and put my drink down, not quite sure how to respond to so much flattery from a beautiful woman who was so well-informed. "Please, let's not exaggerate here: it was _fifteen_ thieves and their boss, at max." Erza slowly turned towards me with a smile, "Do you deny it?" I shook my head, "No … just trying to set the record straight." Erza took another sip and asked, "Well, if you're not busy, I'd like to ask a skilled mage such as yourself on this trip as well." I nodded, "Of course. I'm always glad to help a friend." She smiled at me. "Good. We're meeting at the train station tomorrow." She then extended a hand, "Nice to meet you. I'm Erza, Erza Scarlet." I shook it, "Jai Mathers; likewise." I could hear someone comment, "Erza, Natsu, Gray, _and_ Jai working on a team together? I never saw that one coming. This could be … the most powerful team Fairy Tail's ever seen!"

I asked Mirajane and learned that the fruity drink I like so much is the juice of a citrus fruit that is imported from the planet's tropical zones; which I guess in hindsight, would make a lot of sense, plus … I've always kind of had a sweet tooth. The _name_ of the fruit, however I am just unable to pronounce no matter however many times I try; much to Mira's, Mirajane's, and Erza's endless amusement.

Mirajane asked Erza, "So you guys aren't leaving until tomorrow, huh?" Erza looked at her and nodded once, "Yes, that's correct." Mirajane responded, "Good. Jai here told me earlier that he has a long story to tell us. If I'm not mistaken, he wishes to open up to us; is that right, Jai?" I hesitated before nodding, "Yes, that is true. However, I warn you all that my tale isn't for the faint of heart."

Natsu and Gray snapped out of whatever state that they were in because of Erza, took interest, and walked over to me. Natsu had what looked like half a turkey leg in his mouth that he must have snagged from somewhere. He asked, "You've got a story to tell, eh?" He took on an appraising curious stance, "Well, I _have_ been wondering where you learned to fight so well." Gray (Who was in his underwear again) came over with a mug and a pensive expression, "He _has_ been keeping to himself ever since he joined, so I'll admit curiosity." Several other people voiced similar things about me. Mirajane raised her hands, "All right, all right. Let's go into the meeting room so he can tell his tale."

Soon enough, I was sitting at the head of a dark colored, medium-length table in what looked like a conference room. Gathered there were Lucy, Mirajane, Gray, Elfman, Erza, Natsu and a girl I haven't personally met yet by the name of Levy. She was a rather young, petite teenage girl of a slender build who stood at a rather below-average height for her age. Her shoulder-length blue hair, which had eyebrow-length bangs, was normally tied up with a colorful bandana around her head. Levy appeared to have a variety of outfits, but her most preferred type of attire appeared to be dresses and tank tops, both of which reveal the guild mark on her left scapula. (I noted that the two males I had seen normally within her vicinity weren't there at this time; they must be out of the building. Oh well, their loss.) I cleared my throat and began.

 **[Phew! That was a busy chapter! Now, it looks Jai's got some explaining to do … see you next time!]**


	8. Primordial

[Last updated: 05/02/18]

"Again, I feel that I must warn you all, that the story I have to tell is as full of tragedy and loss as it is long. Plus, it can get rather … intense." Mirajane nodded and continued in a reassuring voice, "It's alright, Jai. Unfortunately, most of the members of Fairy Tail are no strangers to stories of woe and loss. Yours isn't the first, and it most likely won't be the last. Go ahead, we're listening."

I laced my hands together on the table and sighed, billowing out my cheeks in my helmet, "Where do I begin? There's _so much_ I need to say. But first of all, a few questions of my own, if you don't mind. By now, master Makarov has probably spread the story of how I'm a soldier from a far land, ship explosion ... the whole thing, right?" A few nods. "Well … what if I were to tell you that I'm not from some far off land, or from any part of this world altogether … but from another dimension entirely?" There were quite a few confused looks at me until Levy looked over to me with a squint. She breathed, "No … it can't be … Jai? Do the words 'Dimensional Travel magic' mean anything to you?" I nodded, "Yes. That's what the person who saved me and brought me over called it. I'll get to exactly who she is later on – at least to the extent of my knowledge – don't worry." Several heads were going back and forth from Levy and I with confused expressions; several people asked what that meant.

Levy opened up a large book in front of her, adjusted her glasses in an authoritative manner, and spoke up to fill the others in, "According to this, the magic that was used on Jai – called Dimensional Travel Magic – is a very old type of magic said to reach out into something called 'the multiverse' to bring objects or people over to our universe to study; specifically, knowledge sources. It was an idea originally thought up by a member of the magic council long ago … but, it hasn't been used since because the enormous strain of such a spell, when cast, usually costs the life of the caster; that little fact was found out rather quickly. For that reason, it simply fell out of use. However, Jai here, seems to be both the first instance of this magic used in … well, quite a long time, _and_ the first recorded _survivor_ of said magic. This is incredible!" I scratched the back of my neck absentmindedly, "Well, if it helps, I was inside a protective pod when the magic was performed. Also I should add that it wasn't just me … five others were with me when it happened; four of them would be the team I was leading, and one would be a friend of mine that we were sent to rescue. Mirajane and I already met one earlier, in fact. I'll get into that later, too." The room was muttering excitedly. Levy had stars in her eyes; she asked eagerly, "Jai? I have so much to ask you!" I laughed a bit, "Guys. That's why I'm here now. To tell you all about as much as I can." That calmed them down a little; Levy, however, still had a hopeful smile plastered on her face. I couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm. 'She seems to love knowledge and information almost as much as you, Mira.' _Mmmh … it seems so._

"First of all, a very important thing to note is that from where I come from – my universe – magic isn't anywhere _near_ what it is here. What you have here is just … it's wondrous." Lucy was cleaning one of her keys with a cloth and a little bottle of oil; she looked up and paused before speaking with a thoughtful expression, "So … your magic was just weak then, right?" I shook my head, "No, sorry. I worded that badly. We have something that we _called_ 'magic' that was practiced by those we called 'magicians'. We have stories eons old that tell of mages who wielded powerful magics – as well as their even more powerful intellects – in the services of their respective kingdoms; but, that's all they really are … stories. Fantasy. Tales told to children before bed. The magic I'm referring to … it's simply sleight of hand, tricks, and misdirection used to entertain people for credits; they were theatre. Magic was but a curiosity, nothing more. Before I came to Earthland, _I had no magic._ "

Gray sat up and asked, "So … how is it that you are able to use magic then?" I thought for a second before I answered him, "Put simply, I was given it … this 'requip' magic. All I know is that hands were placed on my head – the fingers in specific places along my temple – which then glowed yellow. I don't know the details; I just know that I wasn't able to do it before it was gifted to me, and now I can. And it's _so_ useful a technique to have, I'm actually still discovering uses for it." Erza nodded, "Indeed, it _is_ a helpful kind of magic to have." I looked at her, a thought surfacing in my head, "When we have some time, I was actually thinking on asking you for pointers on it, if you don't mind, Erza. I have heard that you're proficient in its use." She looked at me curiously for a moment and nodded, "Of course, I'd be happy to help."

I continued on, "But while we're on the topic of my magic, I have another type of magic that I haven't yet had the opportunity to get _used to_ , never mind hone. Mirajane saw a glimpse of it before we came in." Natsu leaned forward in interest and spoke up, "Oh? And what would that be?" I thought for a moment, trying to remember what she called it. "Perhaps it was something like, break, smash, crush … no, no … none of those. I think it was … Argh, what did she call it again? Great; now I'm forgetting shit. This is going to bother me all day, I know it." Levy made a thoughtful face and spoke up somewhat hesitantly, "Was it called … Crash magic, by any chance?" I made a palm and gently met it with a fist and nodded, "That was it! Crash magic!" I could hear Mirajane mutter, 'So _that's_ what that was …'

This apparently surprised several people quite a bit, some even made small exclamations. "What, is this magic strange, or something?" Erza was the first to respond, "No, it's just that we have a member who is _quite_ proficient in its use; he is one of the guild's strongest wizards. However, none of us has seen him in quite some time." I took a moment to memorize this fact for later, before moving on. "Ah. Well, unlike requip, it wasn't simply given to me. Apparently, I had it dormant within me; at least, that's _my_ limited understanding of it." I then briefly detailed the process to which I 'awakened' my magic.

"You guys are really easy to talk to, thanks. Ever since I came here, I have kept pretty much to myself and haven't done very much in the way of socializing; you all have no doubt wondered at it by now much like Gray." I smiled, "You're all a friendly bunch, if a little rowdy. It actually reminds me of home, in a weird way. Up till recently, I thought it would be best if I kept a professional distance. However when I went up on that mountain with Lucy and Natsu to help Macao, what Natsu said during the fight … well, it took me a little while, but it made me realize that you're all not just a guild of work acquaintances or associates, but friends. Having had _considerable_ time to reflect recently, I decided I should try to involve myself more in that regard … I need … No. I _want_ to get to know you all better." Lucy asked, "Why were you trying to keep a distance from us? Did we do something wrong?" I shook my head in response. "No, no. You - you guys didn't do anything wrong." I was silent for a few seconds before continuing before sighing in frustration. "I'm sorry. This …" I gestured vaguely around me, "… is hard for me. Opening up … to people is … difficult. I – I don't have a lot of practice with it." Levy asked me why. I replied in a small voice, "It's because everyone I've ever opened up to … they … they die." I could feel my throat tighten up in emotion. I continued in a brittle voice, "My comrades, my friends, my family … dead; all dead." I could tell I had their attention now, if I didn't already.

I paused to clear my throat before I said, "You guys can tell I'm a soldier, right?" I shrugged slightly, "I mean, it's pretty obvious?" General nods all around. "I've known many good people in the years since I've started serving; associates, acquaintances, comrades, my fellow brothers and sisters in arms … but not many friends. Having someone I can truly call a friend isn't something I've had much experience with. Not for a long time." Natsu cleared his throat and spoke up, "Why not? Surely there were people you got along with, right?" I nodded, "There were indeed many I got along with well; you can even say I was great friends with some of them. A few were even assigned to the team I was in; but that wasn't necessarily a good thing." Confused, he asked, "What do you mean? Being teamed up with your friends is the best!" A few people even nodded in agreement, wearing similarly puzzled expressions. A long time ago, I would have agreed with him. Perhaps I can again; time will tell.

I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts before I turned to Mirajane and asked, "You have groups of mages you gather into teams in order to take on dangerous jobs, do you not?" Either by the careful tone in my voice or sensing what I was about to ask, she hesitantly nodded. In as gentle of a voice as I could muster, I asked , "Have any of them come back with a fallen member?" That sent the room muttering, Erza had to clap her hands to get them to quiet. I was receiving a few weird looks, and I couldn't exactly blame them. I raised my hands in a gesture of defense, "Please ... I know it must be a rather sensitive topic, but there _is_ a point to the question. I wouldn't ask something like that otherwise." Mirajane thought for a moment in silence, I could tell I hit a nerve with her. Her normally cheery personality was nowhere to be found, now replaced by a somber and serious demeanor … she must have lost someone special as well. She sighed slightly and nodded, "Sadly, that is correct. Why do you ask?"

I took a moment to compose my thoughts, "Let's say for a moment that you have a team that goes out on a high-risk mission and loses a member. This hypothetical team mourns for the lost member, but eventually someone new comes along and joins, and life goes on. But … what happens when two members fall? Three members? … What happens when there's only one survivor left?" She thought for a second, a serious expression plain on her face as she mulled over her answer, "I suppose – after counseling – such a person would be given the choice to go their own way, in the guild or not, or to be grouped with another team." I nodded, "And the process continues on." Several people gasped at that. Levy clasped a hand over her mouth, "That's horrible!" I slowly nodded in agreement and solemnly said, "Yes. It is. My point in this is that such occurrences are sadly all too commonplace where I come from. I've had many friends, however none of them are left but me. Team after team, year in year out, I watched as each and every one of my friends and comrades – anyone I held close, really – fell by my side. In war, death is a given. The reality of it was if the person next to you dies, you pick up their weapon and fight twice as hard. Most of the people I've worked with react this way."

"I've seen the effect this much death has on some people first hand. I once knew a woman who was _the most_ bubbly, compassionate person anyone ever met. She had a great personality; she befriended people almost as soon as she met them. Then one day, they were all caught in an ambush … her team fought valiantly, but in the end, they were outnumbered and they died; all of them but her. She somehow survived and made it back to the ship battered and shaking, and was taken care of. Soon enough, her second team followed the first. Eventually, she went out one day with her team – her _fifth_ , if I'm not mistaken – and none of them returned. Of course, by that time, she had long since died as a person. I slowly watched as one of my best friends ... a woman I had known for a few years …" I trailed off for a moment. I cleared my throat and continued, "For the sake of my sanity, I eventually stopped getting to know those around me. That made their eventual deaths … easier to cope with, but not by much. That's why I haven't been … social. For the most part, it was habit. I guess … it was some kind of coping mechanism. I don't know."

Everyone by now wore serious expressions. Gray looked over to me, "Who were you fighting that there would be that much death?" Once more I hesitated, I wasn't quite sure how I should put all this. _You're going great, Jai. Keep going._ I nodded slightly and said, "I'll … I'll get to that. Just know for now that we were fighting a long, bloody, very costly war. We were fighting for our very survival as a species against overwhelming opposition."

Suddenly, Mirajane spoke up, "Can you tell us more of where you come from?" I blinked for a second, initially caught off guard by the question. I brightened up somewhat, grateful for the change in topic. "That I can, Mirajane. Although, a short question like that has a _long_ answer; be prepared. Perhaps a visual display would help show you where I come from." I quickly consulted my holo-menu and summoned a small black briefcase and removed four holographic emitters and passed them around. "Please place these on the corners of the table." Mira quickly searched for the signals of the emitters, then slaved each one to my helmet computer.

"As for where I'm from, well … that will take _quite a bit_ of explaining. I suppose the first thing I need to do is compare what I'm used to, to the situation I find myself in now. Inasmuch, the simplest way of going about it would be to broadly analyze the civilization and technology of Earthland on a wide scale, and then find which Technology Tier your civilization embodies the most, and work out from there. That should afford everyone present an appropriate sense of scale." Levy cleared her throat and asked, "What do you mean by 'technology tier'?" I put in a few commands and brought up the listings of the technology ranking system that the Forerunners, later on, the Covenant, and much more recently, Humanity, used.

"Good question, Levy. From the universe I come from, there are a host of alien species; Humanity is but one of them. As such, there is a system used to categorize the technological advancement of the different species into what are called technology tiers. The lower the Tier number, the more advanced the species' technology. It identifies different hallmarks of technological achievement and delineates different strata from the analysis. It's important to note that there could be _great_ lengths of time – hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years between each individual tier. I can quickly run it through for you guys if you like?" Levy, who had a notebook and pencil in front of her, nodded, "Yes, please." It seems I need to keep an eye out for this one … she seems like a smart cookie. I looked around the room and everyone else seemed interested in further elaboration on the Technology Tiers.

Mira projected a blank pyramid-shaped graphic that was to be filled in as I spoke, the lowest section was highlighted. "Alright. There are a total of seven tiers, ranging from Pre-industrial all the way to what are termed World Builders. The lowest level is Tier Seven which, of course, is Pre-industrial. It is one of the most common and stable Tiers, with limited weaponry and environmental threats. Civilizations of this Tier tend to be small and scattered, driven by subsistence farming, foraging, or hunter-gathering needs. Technology is limited to simple handmade tools, weapons, or agrarian implements and methods, but a very broad understanding of planetary and solar mechanics is not uncommon."

The bottom section was labeled Pre-industrial and the section above it became highlighted. "The next Tier up from that is Tier Six: the Industrial age. Tier Six is the outset for massive urbanization. The species in question begins to group together in large towns or cities; technological progress is eventually a result. Agrarian species can remain stable in the Pre-industrial stage, but Tier Six population strain and mechanized food production invariably create political and economic pressures very few can balance; however, moving past this point usually promises advancement. Some species improve environmental and medical understanding concurrently with mechanical and transport advancement. Those that do not, are typically doomed to a grim fate."

"From about this Tier on, you begin to see many approaches towards the same goals, technologically-wise. This is called technological convergence. While it can be seen in pretty much any tier, it gets much easier to see from here on out as each race moves towards the same goals, more or less."

"The next Tier is the Fifth Tier, dubbed the Atomic Age. Tier Five species usually begin focusing on clean energy production. The occasional belligerent species will use atomic energy for weapons, often resulting in mass extinctions. In-atmosphere craft are a hallmark, often leading to manned space flight, albeit on a short-scale."

"The Fourth Tier is the Space Age. It is often the final resting place for species intelligent enough to break free from their world's surface only to fill the gulf surrounding it with war. Their comfort-focused technology can include medical advances."

"Tier Three is Space-faring. The species in this tier usually invent unique technologies for a host of applications. The species usually has had no outside influence."

"The Second Tier is Interstellar. The species has further perfected their chosen technologies." [Not much else to say for this one]

Finally, the tip of the graphic was about to be filled in. "And Tier One is known as World Builders. Thanks to their near total understanding of the universe, the species has the ability to manipulate gravitational forces, create life, and create worlds. The technologies they pursued before are now completely perfected."

"Now, there is a theoretical Tier beyond that – called Tier Zero – which is known as Transsentientance. It is suspected that species who attain this level can travel across galaxies – or even from one galaxy to another – and seed and accelerate the evolution of intelligent life."

"Now, to be fair, the system was created with the advancement of civilization and technology through the use of engineering, science, physics, and mathematics _alone_ , no magic. This will only rank you on how your civilization has advanced with only those fields in mind." Levy didn't respond because she was busily writing all this down. Erza, however, asked, "So, if you are going to analyze the whole of Earthland using this method you outlined, what ranking would you give yourself … your people?" I thought on that for a second; it _was_ a fair question. "I'd say we were somewhere between the third and second tiers, at least up to the point where I was pulled from my universe." My response impressed many of those present. "More on that later."

"So, if I were to rank your civilization, from what I can tell from my short time here on Earthland, you have quite a few towns and some urban centers with two to three story free-standing structures that are without the aid of magic … I think. I would place your civilization somewhere in the middle of tier six; from an engineering and technological standpoint, you should be in the midst of an industrial revolution. This would be around the turn of the nineteenth century, at least by my calendar. I am from around six centuries past that." I paused to take a breath, and to let that little fact settle in.

I called up an image of Earth, which took up most of the space above the table. "This is the planet Earth and Humanity's ancestral homeworld: from where Humanity arose and spread to the stars. Alright, everything up till this point has been a preamble; you guys asked about where I come from? Hold on to your seats, because I'm about to dive in." I called up a file labeled 'The history of Humanity' that Mira kindly compiled for me ahead of time. _I've got the emitter array; you just fill them in._ 'Ok. Here I go _._ ' Mira began to display some holographic pictures and footage that was recovered from the Halo array.

"Ok, so here's a brief overview. Over one hundred and fifty thousand years prior to current events, Humanity had created a large, Tier One interstellar empire rivalling that of another ancient Tier One species known as the Forerunners in both size and technological achievement. Their empire encompassed much, if not the entirety of the Orion Arm of our galaxy and beyond, expanding outwards from Earth towards the edge of said galaxy. They were the first to encounter an _extremely_ virulent and dangerous enemy, which evolved steadily and unnoticed on their worlds; it proved _disastrous_ for their civilization as it forced them to sterilize many of their worlds. This induced a backpedaling effect; as Humanity fled from its infected worlds, they tried to resettle on other worlds until they too were contaminated. This apparently went on for quite a while and long periods of fighting and running from the enemy had left them weak and desperate. When they eventually found themselves orbiting a planet at the boundary of the Forerunner's empire, they discovered to their horror that the parasite had already made its way there. Given how fast the enemy was at spreading itself, there was no time to get the native Forerunners safely off-world. This forced their hands, and they sterilized the planet: parasite, Forerunners and all. The Forerunners at this time knew nothing of the parasite and interpreted this as an act of aggression and warred with the Humans and their allies. They were ultimately defeated after numerous failures against the technologically, tactically and numerically superior Forerunners. After their failure against the Forerunners, their civilization was regressed to a hunter-gatherer state, whereby they could not again threaten the Forerunner's primacy. This ancient Human empire had spanned over two hundred thousand worlds, and was a major power in the galaxy before their defeat. More on _modern_ Humanity a little later."

As I paused for breath, I noticed that the room had grown quiet as the grave; I took a quick look around to see some mouths open in awe, others in a mixture of pity and horror. Macao looked over to me, rolling the pads of his fingers together with his elbows on the table in thought, "The adjectives you pick to describe your enemy, the one so dangerous this powerful ancient star-faring empire was forced to … wipe-out entire worlds … 'virulent', 'parasitic', 'contaminant' … exactly what are they?" I nodded to the fire mage. "All of the above. Collectively, they were known as the Flood." I paused for a second before saying, "Those of you with weak constitutions or are squeamish may want to leave the room for a minute." I waited a moment, and when no one got up to leave I continued. Very well; I tried to cushion the blow.

Mira put up a few of the "tamer" video files of combat featuring a few of the Flood forms. "Insidious in design, malicious in intent, and ultimately unknown in origin, the Flood is a parasitic and infectious species and is the most serious threat my galaxy has ever known, bar none. However, the Flood was more than a simple parasite. To know that story, we need to go father back in history still. Records say that untold millennia ago, before the Flood was even a whispered rumor, when the galaxy was dominated by the two races I mentioned – the Forerunners and ancient Humanity – the Humans and an allied race called San 'Shyuum, found strange, derelict ships near the edges of the galaxy. On these ships were vials of a strange desiccated powder, the origins and purpose of which were unknown. Initial studies showed the powder to be inert, but it also had a psychotropic effect on a favored pet the species shared. When small dosages of the substance were administered to these pets – known as Pheru – it resulted in more docile behaviors. However, unknown to them at the time, the powder was altering the Pheru on a genetic level. As the centuries passed, Pheru exposed to the powder began to develop furry or fleshy growths, which other Pheru were compelled to eat. Other genetic deformities became widespread among the species, and the "disease" soon passed from Pheru to Human and San 'Shyuum. Gruesomely, infected individuals were compelled to consume infected Pheru, and soon after, _uninfected_ Humans and San 'Shyuum alike. The powder – spores, really – targeted sentient species, completely taking them over mind and body … mutating them into creatures capable of directly infecting others. Using the knowledge gained from its victims, the infection began to quickly spread to other victims, planets, and systems like a cancer; this earned them the name 'the Flood'." I watched as some of them went slack-jawed in horror. I winced in sympathy, "I apologize; I wish there was a better way to put it … to sugarcoat it, I guess. But there isn't. There is only the truth."

"Anyway, as more systems fell like dominoes, the Flood's behavior began to change. Now, the victims were being altered to specific ends; they were shaped into new forms for combat, infection, and the gathering of vital biomass and resources. As the Flood spread, the Humanity-San 'Shyuum alliance ran, eventually finding themselves at the boundary of the Forerunner empire. They began a campaign of destruction, razing any planet that showed the slightest sign of Flood infection; a single Flood spore posed a danger high enough to warrant the destruction of entire worlds, even whole _star systems_ due to its very existence. You see, the Flood consumed its prey with such speed and ferocity that entire worlds and civilizations were brought to ruin in mere days. If the parasite could not be contained, it would ultimately lead to the transformation of all sentient life into the Flood."

"Although the alliance fought bravely for years, the Flood's spread seemed unstoppable, and desperate attempts to contain the outbreak were spearheaded. It was reasoned that without sentient beings to infect, the Flood could not expand. So, the order was given to destroy neighboring inhabited Forerunner worlds as a firebreak strategy."

"The Forerunners, tragically, were _completely_ unaware of the Alliance's struggle against the Flood; to them, the destruction of their worlds was an act of unprovoked atrocity and an affront to their principles. In response, they marshalled their enormous fleets together to put an end to what they saw as a rampage of two species. Leading the combined might of the Forerunner forces was the esteemed military commander Shadow-Of-Sundered-Star, known from here on out by the title of Didact." Mira then projected a striking image of a large, imposing figure in a cape and Forerunner armor standing before thousands of similarly armored Forerunner soldiers with massive ships flying overhead. Mira then showed an image of a majestic, slender, armored Forerunner woman in some kind of laboratory. "The Didact and his wife, known as First-Light-Weaves-Living-Song, aka the Librarian, would come to play key roles in the Forerunner's future engagements with Humanity, ultimately setting the stage for a far greater struggle."

"The protracted war lasted a millennium, and Humanity was eventually pushed back to their designated core world and the last of their strongholds: an ancient planet they called Charum Hakkor. The long planetary siege that followed exhausted what remained of the Alliance's military. Ultimately, it was plea bargain between the San 'Shyuum and the Forerunners that sealed the fate for ancient Humanity. In Humanity's hour of need, they agreed to subjugation and quarantine to their home system by the Forerunners; they betrayed their alliance with Humanity and allowed planetary security to be breached. Shortly thereafter, the Didact forced Humanity's surrender bringing an end to the brutal conflict. It was only after the war ended that the Forerunners learned of our struggle with the Flood. The Flood coincidentally – or perhaps not – vanished around the same time Humanity was forced to surrender by the Didact, leaving the Forerunners with grave questions."

"According to Forerunner records, even after the Didact and his warriors had thoroughly crushed the Human forces on Charum Hakkor, they wavered on whether to completely purge their enemies from the galaxy, especially given that most believed that the sudden departure of the Flood had somehow been caused by Humanity. Ultimately, in order to uphold their principles, the Forerunner Council sentenced Humanity to be devolved to a primitive state with little knowledge of their former glory and landlocked back onto their native world."

Lucy said, "You seem to have a lot of information on these Forerunners, can you tell us more of them?" Mira put up a large image of the Mantle's symbol and I continued, reading text that scrawled slowly on my HUD. "The Forerunner empire was known as the Ecumene, and at its peak was comprised of approximately three million habitable worlds. The Forerunners were a wise, highly intelligent, noble people who held a strong belief in justice and in peace. They believed in a philosophy known as the Mantle of Responsibility – otherwise known as the Mantle. Simply put, the Mantle is a belief that the most developed species was charged with the tending to all life in the galaxy; perhaps much like an older sibling takes care of their younger siblings while parents are away. This philosophy bridged the strata between an interstellar marshal plan and a benevolent stewardship; the Forerunners took responsibility for the protection, cultivation, guidance, and at times punishment of the species and planetary systems that laid within their domain."

"After the war with Humanity, the Forerunner citizenry – convinced that the Flood would return one day – insisted that preparations must be made if they didn't want to face the same peril as the Humans. A number of proposals were considered by the Forerunner leadership, but in the end the Council decided in favor of an incredibly powerful and destructive weapon system."

"During the early debates, the Didact advocated for the use of Shield Worlds: hundreds of unique and powerful fortresses of varying size and potential which would guard against the Flood. These Shield Worlds could be deployed to infected systems where they could begin surgically targeting the parasite while sheltering massive populations that had taken shelter within."

"However, the part of Forerunner society known as the rate of Builders, led by Faber-Of-Will-And-Might, also known as the Master Builder, offered an alternative. According to records that they had taken from us, they knew that the Flood was susceptible to a specific type of attack, which often forced it to recoil, even retreat. He proposed a weapon system built around taking advantage of that weakness. Ultimately, the Builders agreed to build the Didact's Shield Worlds while perfecting their designs for the weapon system they eventually took to calling Halo. Halo would be the sword, while the Didact's own fortresses would act as shields, even protecting against the destructive effects of Halo itself."

Mira projected an image of a massive installation. It was constructed as a massive disk with eight curved arms around it. It had a terrestrial-like surface comprising of continents and oceans. In the center of the disk was a hollow where a planetoid resided. It served as conservation facility, Lifeworker research station, Halo construction foundry and remote activation facility. "Built on a remote and unimaginably huge facility called the Ark, the Halo installations were designed as immense ringworlds that were around twenty thousand miles in diameter, and capable of supporting life on the interior of their massive bands. Each Halo could fire a linear widening burst of energy capable of killing all sentient life within its blast range. Though the Flood might have been able to survive in its base forms, it would no longer have any hosts to feed on and would perish from starvation, as planned."

"During the elaborate construction process of the first installations, it was realized that not only would the original rings be extremely difficult to transport due to their size, but their firing mechanism would not be nearly as effective as needed. With this in mind, the builders created a smaller Ark installation – the Lesser Ark – to design more efficient Halo rings about six thousand miles in diameter. The new Halo rings would be capable of firing a spherical pulse, offering a devastatingly wide area of effect."

"Meanwhile, the Librarian was busy making her own plans. She believed that if the Halo installations were ever to be fired, they could cause a galaxy-wide mass extinction. She therefore devised the plan known as the Conservation Measure: sample populations of species – such as DNA, embryos, even living specimens – would be preserved on the Ark and the Halos. Thusly sheltered from the blast, she ensured that sentient life would continue in the galaxy."

"With the fall of the Forerunner capital due to the Flood's machinations, and the status of the Shield Worlds unknown at the time, only one refuge remained to the majority of the Forerunners: The Greater Ark. As one of the two factories for the Halo installations, the Greater Ark was hidden far outside the galaxy's boarder and guarded by the last of the original rings. It was believed to be safe from the Flood; that belief proved to be untrue as the Flood ultimately brought low both installations. Along with much of the Forerunner population."

"According to sparse records, by that time, any Forerunners that had survived worked to distribute the seven now completed ringworlds making up the final Halo Array found around the galaxy. Then, from a citadel far outside the galaxy on the Lesser Ark, the array was activated. In one fateful moment the galaxy was rid of the Flood, at least for a time. In the decades that followed, the surviving Forerunners began to send specimens saved during the Conservation Measure back to their respective homeworlds, reseeding those places where they could now live free from the threat of the Flood. Some even hoped that the Librarian's efforts would allow us to rise to prominence once more, and become inheritors of all that the Forerunners had left behind, including the Mantle. Humanity would be given the status of Reclaimer."

"The surviving Forerunners left behind a small atonement for their crime against all life, and departed for places unknown on what they called the Great Journey. As time passed, the Forerunners were lost from history, slipping into distant memory and legend. Those species that had been saved by the Librarian's efforts would later begin to peruse science and technology on their own. The Halo rings remained hidden and dormant. The robotic, spherical caretakers of each installation, known as monitors, carefully safeguarded the immense installations and the dormant Flood specimens they held for research into a possible cure. They alone carried the burden of safeguarding the rings across the long expanses of time that would follow."

I sighed, "Now, with ancient Humanity, the Flood, the Halo Array, _and_ the Forerunners out of the way, I can finally get to the meat of the matter, and on to much more recent happenings."

 **[It's a lot of information, I know. But, it forms a framework for what is to come. Hang in there, once story time is over, I'll get back to meat of the matter. ^_^]**


	9. Reclaimer

[Last updated: 05/07/18]

"One hundred thousand years would pass before we would return to the stars. During the long ages that followed since the array's activation, Humanity – now confined once more to our homeworld – lost _all_ knowledge of the Forerunners … and of our own ancient history. At least until we discovered massive troves of records aboard one of the Halos."

"It was only in the 20th century – by our calendar – that we would rediscover how to escape our planet's atmosphere and once again ascend into the inky black. We first explored the lower reaches of Earth's orbit, and then to the other worlds in the Sol system, eventually turning our thoughts towards stars that were once out of reach."

"However, with the eventual advances in medical technology that brought longer lives, we were starting to run into the problems relating to overpopulation. Disputes over resources, economics, religion, politics, and especially ideals eventually gave way to a series of extended conflicts fought across the Sol system during the majority of the 21st and 22nd centuries. This period of strife was later collectively known as the Interplanetary Wars. But at some point in that assuredly bloody time, we looked back up from the dirt, from the blood, and from the dying – we looked to the stars. We hadn't given up on the idea of reaching out – seeking a new horizon, and finding a new space to grow and prosper."

"Not long after the Interplanetary Wars ended, in 2170 a transnational organization – a world government – called the Unified Earth Government formed from the chaos; the UEG would be the seat of governance for all of Earth's colonies in the future. There were a number of programs and initiatives and the like running at the time which sought to bring Humanity relief; the greatest of which was called the _Domus Diaspora_. It would go down in history as the single greatest colonization effort in modern Human history. With the development of a method of faster-than-light travel known as Slipspace, Humanity gained access to distant worlds. Colony ships left the Sol system to voyage into the deep; they inhabited a few remote star systems scattered across our arm of the galaxy."

"With the initial advent of interplanetary trade driving down the costs of what had once been a _prohibitively expensive_ implementation of the technology – such as the forging of space-worthy ships and naval vessels – the effects from these carefully implemented first colonization projects helped to ensure that interstellar trade, travel and communication were to be more commonplace amongst the general populace in the ensuing centuries, eventually granting Humanity the capacity to expand to hundreds of worlds and establish colonies at enhanced rates."

"With easy interplanetary travel now made viable, it created a golden age of colonial expansion. In this Colonial Period, Humanity's territory stretched at least ninety five light years away from Earth within only 200 years, with more than eight hundred colonies under the UEG's influence by 2490. Eventually, what are called the core worlds, or Inner Colonies manifested – they were worlds that had strong, densely populated settlements that were closest to Earth via Slipspace travel – they consisted of the two hundred ten planets which were colonized before 2390. In 2490, the planet Reach, which was located at the fringes of the Inner Colonies, became the UNSC's military center. Earth and the Inner Colonies, with their established social and economic infrastructures, would become heavily dependent on materials and goods supplied by the Outer Colonies – worlds that served as agricultural or mining colonies, depending of what resource they provided — which prompted the UEG to keep them under its control. However, as Human-controlled space grew exponentially in volume, Earth began to lose its logistical ability to control its far-flung colonies."

"By 2490, the Outer Colonies encapsulated the Inner Colonies in addition to surpassing them in numbers; they quite literally surrounded the Inner Colonies on every side. With increased trade restrictions and taxes set up by the CMA – the Colonial Military Administration – the tension between the Outer Colonies and Earth only increased. This caused many inhabitants of Earth and the Inner Colonies to feel threatened by the increasingly hostile Outer Colonies. Others thought that through diplomacy and over enough time, the situation between the Core Worlds and the Outer Colonies could be stabilized. Despite that hope, the UNSC increased its military presence in the Outer Colonies, which would in turn provoke them into increased aggression, eventually escalating to the point where it sparked numerous brushfire wars across the Outer Colonies, collectively known as the Insurrection."

"A few years went by with the Insurrectionists growing ever bolder in their actions, and a paper – called the Carver Findings – was drafted for the UNSC. It was a study into the political and security situation of Earth and her colonies; it pointed to a complete and imminent breakdown of government in Human space. Long story short, it showed that in the _best case_ scenario: unless governmental control was established, and reinforced by an immediate and permanent military presence, it showed that the majority of the Outer Colonies would rebel soon. If that were allowed to happen, the end effect would be thirty years of war and five billion dead. But terrifyingly, the worst case scenario's predicted effects were unbounded: there would be _interminable war_ between the various colonies, and an uncountable number of dead."

"With no end to the Insurrection in sight, extreme measures were now being pursued. UNSC leadership knew they needed to establish control over the places where the Insurrection was at its worst, but they also knew that the Insurrection proved that Humanity's survival could not be secured by traditional military methods, so … they sought new methods. They sought to make a new type of soldier; it would come to have the admittedly rather unimaginative name of "supersoldier". These soldiers would become living legends that revolutionized the art of war. Although they would play a role in quelling the rebellion, a common threat would soon galvanize Humanity and send us headlong into a conflict that would bring Humanity to the brink of extinction. The earliest start of such a program began back during the Interplanetary Wars of the 22ed century, during which organizations attempted to generate tougher, stronger, and faster soldiers. These early attempts were largely fruitless."

"By the 23rd century, the UNSC had begun developing bioengineering protocols and experimenting with biochemically enhanced soldiers. Codenamed ORION – named for one of the arms of our galaxy – this early program selected and tested five candidates. Unfortunately, these early augmentations were declared ineffective and the five test subjects were reintegrated into the UNSC military. All five died within a year of the tests, for reasons known only to ONI – the UNSC Navy's secretive intelligence service branch."

"It wasn't until the 25th century that ORION would be launched again, just as the early seeds of the Insurrection began to take hold. On January 29th, 2491, the ORION project formally launched with sixty five test subjects. These subjects were successfully augmented, and after completing their training, an additional one hundred volunteers were accepted into the program. Their augmentations would include chemical injections to enhance their overall musculature, respiration, hearing, and vastly improved eyesight."

"On January 12th, 2496, the first ORION operation was successfully launched as part of Operation: CHARLEMAGNE. A full unit of ORION soldiers were deployed to recover an suborbital transit station over the planet Eridanus-II, which they did without causality or detection. More operations would follow in the next ten years, though CHARLEMAGNE marked the only time a full unit would be deployed. Rumors and conspiracy theories about secret supersoldiers also began to spread among the outer colonies as a result of ORION."

"The program continued to expand as the Insurrection grew stronger and bolder, with a full three hundred ORION candidates being augmented by the program's peak. Unfortunately, older candidates began showing side effects both physical and mental that only worsened with time. There were also some that had secret Insurrectionist sympathies who refused to participate after augmentations. With all of the shortcomings and degradation of candidates, the program was quietly shutdown in 2506. The one hundred sixty five surviving candidates were re-assigned to other special operations units throughout the UNSC. However, the aforementioned side effects would continue to worsen for some, and a number of former ORION soldiers were discharged due to mental instabilities. To keep ORION secret, the effects would be attributed to a fictitious affliction known as Boren's Syndrome. Despite all of this, some former ORION candidates – such as one Sergeant Avery Johnson – were able to remain active much longer than the average soldier. ORION would have a lasting impact following the program's shutdown. The biggest impact would be from a future iteration of the program."

"ORION-II began around 2510 as ONI began reviewing the Carver Findings. When a brilliant young doctor by the name of Catherine Halsey re-examined the findings, she predicted an even more grim fate for Humanity. ONI went to work initiating their next supersoldier program with the aforementioned doctor as its lead. Under Dr. Halsey, the program took a radical shift; rather than allow adult volunteers, they'd use six year old children. The idea (As reprehensible as it was) went that children – unlike adults – could be easily indoctrinated; their young bodies would be more adaptable to augmentation to create the perfect soldier. By choosing candidates from a select genepool, Halsey ensured only the best of the best. In addition, to distance her program from the failings of ORION, Halsey renamed it to Spartan-II; named so to at least honor the sacrifices of those that came before. ONI approved it, and Halsey began searching for her ideal candidates: the most advanced six year olds across Human space; children who had exceptional strength, speed, and intelligence. By 2517, she had identified one hundred fifty potential candidates. Budget cuts, however, forced her to further reduce that number to seventy five. Halsey – aided by ONI teams – would observe the subjects, and decide which ones to conscript."

"In late September of 2517, seventy five children from across Human space were secretly abducted, replaced with rapidly grown clones, and transported to Reach, Humanity's military powerhouse – second only to Earth. For the next eight years, the children would be trained physically and mentally for war: physical training, military history and tactics, strategy, and much more. In March of 2525, the candidates entered the second phase of the program: augmentation. This new generation of Spartans received a wide-variety of risky and invasive surgeries to _greatly_ enhance their natural abilities; they would form the basis of a list of enhancements that would become more or less common with later iterations. They were given drastically enhanced vision; their bones were coated with a carbide ceramic which rendered them virtually unbreakable; they were implanted with a catalyst to release a growth hormone to boost skeletal and muscular tissue growth; their muscular density was increased; and their reflexes were increased by 300%. Unfortunately, with all of those risky, invasive surgeries ... there were side effects. Of the seventy five candidates chosen, only thirty three survived intact; of those that remained, twelve were severely crippled. A mock funeral was held for the dead, who were secretly put in stasis; the hope being that one day they could be resuscitated, or even deployed as proper Spartans. Following the funeral and rehabilitation, the Spartan-II's would eventually be deployed on their first mission to capture an Insurrectionist leader. The mission was a success. However, upon returning, they were briefed on the fall of Harvest, and first contact with a theocratic military alliance of alien races known as the Covenant."

"By November of 2525, the Spartans would receive their new Mjolnir Mk-IV armor. The armor, the product of another program launched alongside the Spartan-II program, provided incredible protection, while also further augmenting their already prodigious speed, strength, and reaction times. The melding of biologically enhanced super-soldiers with state-of-the-art armor marked the completion of the Spartan-II program, resulting in the most remarkable soldiers Humanity had ever created. Spartans would be deployed against Insurrectionist and Covenant forces; the latter more and more as the Covenant kept advancing. More on that later on."

"In August of 2552, the twenty five surviving Spartan-II's were called back to Reach for Operation: RED FLAG. It was a mission to kidnap Covenant leadership and force a peace. The Spartans were outfitted with the latest line of Mjolnir – Mk-V – which featured a number of upgrades, most noticeably energy shields. The leader of the Spartan-II's, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, was also given the smart AI Cortana, who would help them on their mission. Unfortunately, before RED FLAG could be initiated, the Covenant showed up at Reach. The Spartans were deployed in the battle, but most of them would die in Reach's defense; more on Reach later on. By the end of the Covenant war, just months later, only a handful of Spartan-II personnel were known to be alive, though more, once thought dead or missing, would show up in the years following the war. After the graduation of the Spartan-II's in 2525, a second class was planned, however due to the Covenant war diverting funds and a reduced pool of candidates, it was shut down."

"In 2531 however, a Colonel James Ackerson proposed his Spartan-III program to ONI. Building off the work started by Dr. Halsey, the Spartan-III program would widen the strict age and genepool, taking in orphaned children, rather than kidnapping them from their homes, and using safer – although just as effective – chemical augmentations. The biggest change however, would be the armor used. The biggest ongoing cost of the Spartan-II program was the development and maintenance of Mjolnir – a single suit costing almost as much as one of our more powerful ships called a destroyer. Spartan-III's would receive the less-powerful and less-sophisticated Semi-Powered Infiltration armor – otherwise known as SPI. SPI had photo-reactive panels to camouflage users, and featured limited ability enhancement. The armor plating was noticeably weaker than Mjolnir, but SPI overall was still better than the armor that was given to most UNSC forces."

"To lead this new program, a Spartan-II named Kurt-51, was secretly abducted. Given the new name of Kurt Ambrose and the rank of lieutenant, he would train the newest generation of Spartans on the secret world of Onyx. In December of 2531, Alpha company began their training with a pool of four hundred ninety seven candidates, although only three hundred were ultimately allowed to join. The class was augmented in 2536. The list of known Spartan—III enhancements included the standard mix of enhancements, now improved by being changed to chemical injections instead of physical augmentations; regardless, the only change between the two was the vastly improved mortality rate. Alpha company was deployed on numerous successful operations in the months following their augmentations. However, the entire company – save those who had been pulled aside for special teams – was wiped-out during Operation: PROMETHEUS, a mission to destroy a Covenant shipyard."

"Two years later in 2539, four hundred eighteen candidates were conscripted to form Beta company. Once again, only three hundred were ultimately selected. Beta company was given the same set of augmentation injections sometime prior to May 2554, and was equipped with SPI MK-II, which featured an array of minor upgrades. Like Alpha company before them, Beta company successfully took on a number of missions, and once again, were mostly wiped-out in a massive suicide mission called Operation: TORPEDO. TORPEDO was enacted on July 3rd, 2545 in order to take out a Covenant deuterium/tritium refinery on Pegasi Delta."

"While a few Spartans were successfully pulled from the company for special missions, all but two deployed for Operation: TORPEDO were wiped-out. These survivors were Tom-B292, and Lucy-B091. They would go on to help train the next company of Spartan-III's – Gamma company – which was approved in July 2544, and started not long after. Gamma company was made up of three hundred thirty candidates, all of which were allowed to join the program. When augmented, Kurt, motivated by the grief of losing two previous companies of Spartans, secretly added a few extra illegal augmentations. The added injections included an injection to enhance the aggressive response of an individual during times of stress – which had a depressive effect on the higher reasoning centers of the brain; a bipolar integration drug, to switch between aggression and non-aggression; and a drug to regulate and counteract the effects, which would come be known by Gamma company as "Smoothers". Gamma would need to take them for the rest of their lives at regular intervals."

"By October of 2552, most of Gamma company would be deployed, with a few teams remaining on Onyx to compete for top marks. Unfortunately, Forerunner sentinels hidden deep within the planet came alive, responding to a recently destroyed Halo Installation 04. The Spartan-III's began a fight for survival, eventually ending up in a hidden Shield World, the entrance of which was kept at Onyx's core. The survivors would be recovered in February of 2553."

"The Spartan-III program was in many ways similar, but in more ways distinct from its predecessor. While the Spartan-II's had been created to quell Human rebellion, the Spartan-III's were created to take on the Covenant - meant as disposable fodder - trading lives for time. The Spartan-III program saw the birth of several specialized teams. One such were the Headhunters, comprised as either lone-wolf operatives, or two-man teams called a binary. They would be pulled from regular service after surviving two or more specially assigned missions, and would receive additional training. Once done, Headhunters would be sent deep behind enemy lines against specific targets, often with the expectation they wouldn't return. The Headhunter program would continue with the Spartan-IV program after the war, although with a few alterations. Following the war, all surviving Spartan personnel were given the chance to join the newest iteration of the program: the Spartan-IV's."

"The Spartan-IV program would begin around September of 2552 under the leadership of Spartan-II medical washout, Musa-096, and approved by ONI head Margret Parengosky. The Spartan-IV program would return to its ORION roots, taking adult volunteers from military service and augmenting them. The first iteration of the program would attempt to create Spartans who wouldn't need Mjolnir, who were as strong and capable as any previously fully outfitted Spartan class. Unfortunately, nine out of the ten test subjects died, with the tenth going insane. Following that, ONI reverted to something more akin to the Spartan-II's and Spartan-III's, using augmentations to enhance individuals, and outfitting them with Mjolnir armor."

"Known Spartan-IV augmentations include: a specialized neural implant capable of interfacing with an AI; muscular and skeletal engineering to enhance bone length and strength, reinforcing the joints; muscular enhancement; decreased reaction time; enhancing or completely replacing nearly every organ in the body ****** ; gene therapy to give them an extended life expectancy/operational time; and various other augmentations of lesser importance."

"Following augmentations, Spartan-IV's were certainly among the most capable soldiers, but they did fall short of the Spartan-II's and Spartan-III's. To compensate, a second generation of Mjolnir – developed alongside the Spartan-IV program – featured new technology to bridge the gap between the Spartan-IV's and the previous generations. In short, a Spartan-IV in Gen-2 Mjolnir can fight on par with a Spartan-I or a Spartan-II, barring combat experience. Spartan-IV's also received additional training following augmentations, having to earn their armor before being deployed as proper Spartans."

"The first class of Spartan-IV's graduated in January of 2553 with one hundred forty five members, with more to come in the years to follow. By 2557, the flagship of the UNSC – the UNSC _Infinity_ – regularly had anywhere from three hundred to five hundred Spartan-IV's on board at any given time, with several more spread throughout UNSC space. When not on missions, Spartans would often train with one another in wargame simulators – a state-of-the-art combat deck. The Spartan-IV program marked several departures from past programs, including separation from any main UNSC branch. The Spartan-II's were just part of the Navy, the Spartan-III's as Navy and Army, but the Spartan-IV's had their own branch, the Spartan branch."

A couple of them tentatively asked about the Covenant. I nodded with a small shrug, "Alright, back to the Covenant, then. They play a major role in quite a lot of events as the aggressors, and as such, there is _a massive_ amountof information about them. However, since I will be keeping you all here long enough as is, I will try to keep this brief." I cleared my throat and began.

"An unknown number of our worlds – and the spaces surrounding them – were littered with ancient Forerunner technology. Those in charge of the Covenant – the "High Prophets" – controlled what was done with any "relics" found. The relics were used to build them new weapons, ships, and to bring them word of their gods – via the High Prophets, of course. Covenant culture and society was founded on the religious belief that the Forerunners had purposefully left those artifacts behind to guide those that came after them to "divine transcendence" – something they referred to as the "Great Journey"."

"A query in 2525 was made to a fragment of an ancient Forerunner AI housed aboard a massive construct known as High Charity. High Charity was a massive mobile planetoid station that was the central hub of the Covenant. It served as Holy City, shipyard, homeworld, and mobile command center where the general leadership of the hegemony and where many of the Covenant lived and worked. The query made to the AI aboard a decommissioned Forerunner ship that they built High Charity around was concerning the large number of "relics" on a world as-yet unvisited by the Covenant. The Covenant was established with the purpose of searching out Forerunner artifacts, and it appeared that the planet was full of these sacred and mysterious treasures. These "relics" were detected using a Forerunner technology that the Covenant referred to as a "Luminary", or a Forerunner machine that could track ancient Forerunner technology; however, it revealed a critical flaw in the very underpinnings of Covenant belief. The Forerunner symbol they understood to mean "Reclamation" (I.E. relics) was a mistranslation of "Reclaimer". The AI revealed to them that the "relics" on the world were Humans, and that _Humans_ were the Forerunner's chosen inheritors. This information was restricted to only a select few in the Covenant. They realized the public knowledge of this would shake the foundations of the polity and potentially destroy it. Those privy to the information moved to prevent catastrophe and seized control of the Covenant. These three individuals claimed not only the reigns of the Covenant, but the titles of High Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret. (Which was rather ironic because those specific attributes were sorely lacking with their encounters with Humanity) Rather than offer us a truce or an opportunity to join their Covenant, the Prophets painted us as vermin, infesting and desecrating the Forerunner's holy possessions. The first target was the world that the Forerunner AI had been consulted about: the UEG colony-world of Harvest. In the bloody, chaotic years that would follow, they would go on to kill _billions_ of people, and bring hundreds of worlds to ruin. They would maintain their power throughout the remainder of the conflict to come; it was an effort to wipe the Human race from the stars, to … exterminate us entirely and "cleanse" their god's worlds of our infestation."

All of them by now were pale-faced and visibly shaken; Elfman – who up till then was silent – cleared his throat and exclaimed, "GENOCIDE?!" He slammed the flat of his hand on the table in what I found to be a dramatic fashion. "They wrought _genocide_ on Humanity?!" I solemnly nodded. "They did indeed. Nothing short of it." Several people swore softly, while others simply quietly stared wide-eyed at the projection. I couldn't exactly blame them for these reactions. Were I in their places, I would have probably reacted similarly.

"It was the remote agricultural planet of Harvest – located in the Outer Colonies – where we not only made first made contact, but where the opening salvos of a long, traumatic conflict known as the Human-Covenant War were fired. Of course, a cautious attempt at peace was made, however, it ultimately failed. It was then that the rather one-sided battle of Harvest began. Planetside, an order was quickly issued for all colonists to be assembled at Utgard – the planet's capital – for immediate evacuation. Many chose not to leave – likely thinking it was a drill – and were killed in the subsequent ground battle and glassing. Three hundred and sixty refugee-laden cargo freighters ascended the planet's space elevator to the orbiting station and prepared to flee into Slipspace; unfortunately – due to the superior capabilities of the Covenant – one hundred forty five of the freighters were destroyed before they could escape. A week after the evacuation order, Covenant forces began destroying some of the outer cities – presumably in the search of their 'relics' – starting with the city of Gladsheim. During the following months, the planet was steadily glassed. An estimated twenty three thousand civilians would die in this event." I heard several audible gasps of surprise.

"Initially unaware of the devastating assault on Harvest, the UNSC first discovered that something was amiss when communication was lost with the colony. They dispatched a scout ship – the CMA _Argo_ – to investigate in April of 2525, but it was almost immediately destroyed upon entering the system. Fearing the presence of the Insurrection on the planet, and blind to the true nature of the enemy, CMA Battlegroup 4 was deployed."

"The Battlegroup discovered a warship orbiting Harvest looking like nothing they had seen before, and found that the colony had been glassed from space and nearly obliterated. The ship responded to first contact protocols by broadcasting a message – in _our_ language, surprising us: "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and _WE_ are their instrument!", and opened fire. Two of the three ships that comprised the battlegroup – the CMA _Vostok_ and the CMA _Arabia_ , both light frigates – were swiftly destroyed. The only ship left—the CMA Heracles, a destroyer – returned fire, but its attacks seemed to have no effect. The ship was soon enough severely damaged, and engaged its Slipspace drive and narrowly escaped to spread the word to the rest of the UNSC.

I stopped for a minute to think of what next to tell them. I looked around and saw shocked expressions on each face. Eventually, Natsu cleared his throat and asked, "What do you mean by 'glass'? You keep using that term." I thought for a second and Mira brought up the relevant information in my HUD. 'Ah, thanks Mira.' _No prob._ She projected a picture of one of the colonies that were catastrophically glassed, and everyone just stared at it in numb shock. It was a daunting, chaotic sea of shapes and textures: black, brittle, swelling and troughing without end, scattered here and there with the ruined skeletons of melted buildings; the sky above was a thick, black, stormy mess and ash rained down like snow. There were quarries right up to the horizon, showing open-pit operations where various companies were digging in the ash and glass for concentrated mineral deposits. After that, the real glassed planet … or rather, what was _left_ of it, began.

"Well, to answer that question, I need you to answer this one: do you guys know what plasma is?" I saw a few blank looks as people thought about it, "Fourth state of matter? No? Ok." I sighed internally and looked over and saw Levy readying her notebook again, which I took his a cue to proceed. "Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter. The first three states – liquid, solid, and gas – are relatively easy to come by. But to find plasma … that's a little trickier, at least terrestrially speaking. Plasma is formed by heating a gas to a high enough temperature and/or by subjecting it to a powerful electromagnetic field, like, say … the environment of the sun. The sun is made of plasma; all stars are, in fact. Plasma is the most abundant form of matter in the universe, just look at the night sky. There is a much more to say about plasma and stars, but that's part of the background you need to know to understand what glassing is."

I waved a hand at the projected picture, "But, back to the question at hand. The Covenant relied _very_ heavily on plasma-based weaponry, and as such, plasma is the main component in glassing a planet or target. In short, glassing is where the Covenant attacks a planet's surface with superheated plasma, melting it, and rendering it unsuitable for life. As you can plainly see, glassing is a destructive process which normally signifies an end to a planetary body, and begins with the discovery of an enemy controlled world, I.E. Humanity. The Covenant has two main methods they use to attack a planet: Orbital Bombardment and Low Altitude Bombardment."

"When a planet has no need for ground forces to be deployed – as is the case for Orbital Bombardment – the Covenant would choose to glass the planet from space. Masses of plasma would be discharged from one or more warships in lances. Contained within a magnetic bubble, the lances are guided towards the target by the ship's automation, striking an area – literally cooking the ground with the intense heat generated – and converting the top soil and other surface geology into a mineral called Lechatelierite, which is similar to glass, hence the name. The process also vaporizes any bodies of water the planet may possess, leaving at most small, ash-choked pools. In this manner, the ecosystem of the planet is efficiently and effectively disposed of."

"As shown here, the impact of a _single_ plasma lance has been likened to that of a detonation of a large bomb. When the plasma lance impacts the surface, the magnetic field sustaining and guiding the plasma collapses, and – depending on how powerful the release of energy is – the initial zone of impact is obliterated instantly. The areas outside of the initial impact zone are highly affected by the heat wave generated by the blast; depending on the range, those immediately outside the blast zone are killed instantly by the intense heat. As thermal expansion takes over, the resulting flames fan out and create what is termed a pyroclastic surge, which will continue to burn the areas it comes into contact with until it has cooled enough that it cannot harm the surface. Subsequently, the atmosphere is saturated with soot and ash thrown up from the initial impacts, blocking the light from the sun and subjecting the region – if not the planet – to an artificial winter. The winter would last until the soot and ash has settled sufficiently, which could take as little as thirty years. As the initial impact area cools, the surface is covered by extensive areas of molten soil, and is comparable to active volcanic sites. The destructive process ultimately leaves the planet unable to recover to its former state on its' own; after such destruction, the atmospheres of most planets simply boil away from the process due to the extreme temperatures."

I found and pulled up a surveillance video from a planet right before it was glassed, the camera was conveniently pointed to the sky when the first plasma lance came down. It was night when it happened, and we watched as the night sky began to glow a blue-white before a luminous ball fell and made contact with the ground, killing the camera recording. The feed quickly cut to another piece of equipment farther away until that too melted; this process repeated until the impact zone was a mile or so away and showed that the area was reduced to a pile of molten debris. A few seconds later, more lances could be seen coming down.

"However, when ground engagements are in effect, the Covenant will resort to Low Altitude Bombardment; bringing their ships closer to the planet's surface to ensure the complete destruction of the area in question using overlapping orbits as they glass. This is accomplished by building up plasma at the energy projector located on the underside if the ship, creating a magnetic conduit for the plasma to travel through, and then discharging the plasma as a narrow beam to the surface below; this maneuver is known as a Glassing Beam … for obvious reasons. A single Covenant battlecruiser can glass approximately one acre of a planet's surface in fifteen seconds of sustained fire, with desert terrain taking less time, and deep ocean taking much longer to glass. The Covenant will use Low Altitude bombardment in many battles where major ground engagements are occurring; smaller warships use this method specifically to deal with Human armies and low-level structures during campaigns, while larger Covenant warships can use this to level _whole cities_ during an engagement. It should be noted that our enemies were so ruthless and impatient to wipe the Human race off of the galactic map, that sometimes when they glassed areas, they did so with their ground forces _still in the vicinity_."

They were quite taken aback at the covenant's methods of eradication. Erza cleared her throat and asked, "This … this _destruction_ is what befell many of your worlds?" I nodded in response. "Most – if not all – of the planets that they found was given that treatment. Now, there is hope for those planets that were glassed. The Covenant didn't want _any_ life to return to the planets they had performed a glassing on. And normally, it wouldn't; at least not for a _very long time_. However, we have since come up with a process to change that; that process is called terraforming. Terraforming is when special technology is used to make a planet able to sustain life, or in this case, able to revive a sustainable environment for life."

Macao gawked awkwardly at me with wide eyes, "Surely you're joking! The ability to breathe life into barren planets … you know how to do that?!" I nodded, "Yes. Don't get me wrong, though. It is a rather protracted and elaborate process, but … given enough time and careful application of enough resources … it can be done."

I looked at the projection with a more serious face. After a moment, I sighed and continued, "Harvest … After they glassed Harvest … that was the event that started what became known as the Human-Covenant War, or simply the Great War". Erza spoke up again with a serious yet curious expression, "How long did this war last?" I thought for a second, "Just under thirty years. The number of dead was later estimated, but as it was happening, it was just easier to count the number of planets gone. The final estimate I heard on the matter was around twenty three billion dead and at least seventy six planets glassed to hell." I paused, quickly doing head math, "Out of just under forty billion Humans galaxy-wide, barely sixteen billion remained after the war." I saw some faces blanch farther at that statistic.

"Anyway, after realizing the threat posed to Humanity by the Covenant, the UNSC went _immediately_ on high alert. A vice admiral by the name of Preston Cole was given the command of the then-largest fleet assembled in Human history with orders to retake Harvest. With the help of forty warships, he engaged the enemy. Although he was victorious, the UNSC still lost thirteen vessels to a single Covenant warship; a grim assessment of the strength of our newfound foe. Meanwhile, reports of colonies losing contact began to multiply. He managed to retake Harvest in 2526, and then spent the next five years chasing the Covenant around the Outer Colonies, scoring decisive victories at three major colonies. Meanwhile, the Covenant had returned to Harvest; they were determined to recapture the planet. This led to a five year long series of engagements on and off the ruined planet between the Covenant and the UNSC."

"The UNSC eventually discovered the reason for the Covenant's persistence of Harvest. Hidden in the planet's uncharted arctic regions was an alien structure that predated the Human colony, and even the Covenant itself; a buried Forerunner facility. We started to piece together clues about the Covenant's ultimate military goals, and slowly began to open our eyes to the secrets of the Forerunners. What we did not know at the time was that the technology of the Forerunners would ultimately present the greatest hope against the seemingly unstoppable Covenant – although those would only become clear at the very threshold of Humanity's extinction."

"The UNSC eventually recognized that the Covenant were often led to Human worlds by data retrieved from colonies which they had already attacked. Navigation databases recovered from Human vessels had also offered the Covenant Slipspace routes to other colonies, drawing the enemy to new prey. To prevent this, in the early years of the war, Admiral Cole submitted a universal standing order commonly referred to as the "Cole Protocol". This order dictated procedures for ships departing from any engagement with Covenant forces: navigation databases had to be destroyed, all onboard AI's had to be purged or recovered, and ships could only leave on random course headings away from Earth before returning home. All this was to ensure that the Covenant could not discover the location of Earth, or any of the remaining Inner Colonies. If they did, that would effectively mean game over for Humanity."

"The period of time between the implementation of the Cole Protocol and the end of the war is often referred to as the Siege of the Inner Colonies. For many of the remaining colonies, it was a time of silent dread, punctuated frequently by the Covenant's ruthless eradication of a colony. Although colonies weren't being destroyed at the frankly frightening pace they had been earlier in the war, there was still little to stop the Covenant's steady advance through our territory. The only things the Covenant left behind after they passed through a Human controlled system were the occasional irreparably broken family fleeing the death of their world, and smoldering husks of what used to be colony worlds."

"From then on out, Humanity – heavily out-gunned – lost _much_ ground to the Covenant. For the next twenty five years, the war ground on in a predictable pattern; costly victories on the ground for UNSC forces, and near total Covenant space superiority. By this time, most of the Outer Colonies had been destroyed. The SPARTAN-II raid on the _Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence_ also proved that while the Covenant Empire was _overwhelmingly powerful_ , it was not invincible."

"The last year of the war saw Humanity's largest defeat, but also saw several of our greatest victories, coupled with the destruction of the Covenant as a galactic superpower. One such victory was at the colony of Sigma Octanus IV. On the ground, the Spartan-IIs secured a Forerunner artifact covered in mysterious symbols that the Covenant had tried to exfiltrate out of the planet's capital before a bomb was set and detonated, obliterating the sizeable Covenant garrison and the city."

"However, the Covenant placed a spy probe on one of the command ships which led the Covenant to Reach. The Fall of Reach that followed resulted in staggering losses for both sides, but ended in a pyrrhic Covenant victory. They burned that world; reducing much of its surface to so much smoldering glass and ash. Nevertheless, amid the tragedy and massive loss of life, there remained a single ray of hope. The UNSC _Pillar of Autumn_ , which carried nearly all remaining Spartan-II's, was originally the main ship for Operation: RED FLAG. However, the plan was ultimately jeopardized during the initial skirmish for Reach, and it was aborted by the captain. It was among the few surviving UNSC ships which fled the battle, and made a unique jump to Slipspace, which led to the discovery of the first of several Halo installations. It was here the war took a pivotal turn. The Covenant ultimately attempted to fire said Installation – to go on their "Great Journey" – and so it was destroyed by John-117, by detonating the engines of the UNSC _Pillar of Autumn_ , which had crash-landed on the Installation. Narrowly escaping the ring's destruction, he found and reunited with a handful of other survivors aboard a Human dropship." Mira showed them the footage of the installation being destroyed, which they watched in rapt attention.

"Shortly after the Human victory at Halo Installation 04, the survivors made a chilling discovery: despite their extraordinary sacrifices, the Covenant had learned the location of Earth, and were preparing an enormous fleet to assault it. The Master Chief, along with the survivors of the Pillar of Autumn and a team of surviving Spartan-II's they discovered at the burning husk of Reach, devised a plan to halt or at least delay the Covenant's invasion of Earth. Striking at the heart of a massive command and control station called the _Unyielding Hierophant_ , they would destroy the many fleets that it serviced." Mira briefly showed a holographic image of the double teardrop-shaped Covenant station before it disintegrated in an explosion. "The station was … sufficiently disabled; almost all of the nearby ships – which roughly numbered around five hundred – were consumed in the violent conflagration that engulfed the _Unyielding Hierophant_ , leaving only a handful left to limp back to High Charity."

"Although the Covenant's attempts to deal a death blow to Humanity were momentarily averted with the destruction of the _Unyielding Hierophant_ , little could stop their plans from being realized. We would have to muster all of our remaining forces to our home system and prepare for the desperate struggle to come. But, below the surface of our homeworld, another secret that had lain hidden for a hundred thousand years was about to emerge."

"Only a few days prior the Covenant's arrival in the Sol system, the Master Chief and the others who had survived their mission _finally_ returned to Earth with … some fanfair, providing the UNSC with insight to the Covenant's plans. The Prophet of Regret appeared in the system leading a small fleet of fifteen ships to Earth in order to locate a Forerunner artifact _they_ knew was there, but laid hidden from us. Though hopelessly outgunned by the UNSC defense fleet, the Prophet of Regret's flagship managed to break through our defenses to the city of New Mombasa. On the ground, the Covenant quickly spread through the city, destroying both military and civilian resistance where it was found. A counter-attack by the Marines and John-117 inflicted heavy losses which forced Regret to flee, leaving his fleet to burn. His carrier jumped into Slipspace directly above the city – damaging it severely in the process, and tearing a rift across the northern part of the city. Unfortunately for Regret, four Human ships, UNSC _In Amber Clad_ among them, had followed them through their own Slipspace rupture to another Halo: Installation 05."

"As the ship neared the installation, John-117 – who was aboard the UNSC _In Amber Clad_ – was ordered to find out why the Prophet of Regret came to Earth and why he came to the city specifically. He was then hard-dropped with a complement of ODST'S to the Halo's surface." Lucy raised her hand, "What's an ODST?" Mira then projected a rotating image for them – the insignia of the ODSTs. It was a red flaming skull and banner that read "ODST" which was superimposed over a yellow silhouette of a SOIEV. "Defined by an indelible grit, fortitude, bravery … and depending on who you ask, a good dose of insanity, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (Known as ODST's) are a special operations capable organization of the UNSC Marine Corps that specialize in orbital-dropped shock infantry and special warfare tactics. As a division of the Marines, they played a key role throughout the war. They are a volunteer-only arm of the military that are deployed by way of single-occupant titanium drop pods from ships high above the atmosphere for hard and fast insertion into the places that need them the most. It was this ferocious audacity that earned them the nickname of "Helljumpers", and despite them falling short of being Spartans, the fearless tactics and unwavering boldness they so often employed struck fear into the heart of the Covenant."

"Led by John-117, the ODST's forced their way through Regret's forces until they had reached the Prophet himself, who hoped to activate the array and usher those faithful to the Covenant into "divinity", which had been prophesied by their kind for centuries. At that moment, High Charity arrived and launched multiple waves of dropships to aid the Prophet of Regret. However, they were withdrawn for reasons unknown to us. John-117 ultimately assassinated Regret, dealing a heavy blow to the Empire's political structure. The order was given to glass the temple in which Regret's corpse was residing; John-117 barely escaped by jumping into the waters below."

"Meanwhile, the majority of the Human forces on _In Amber Clad_ had traveled to Installation 05's Library to obtain the Index – the key to a successful firing of the Halo, as well as the six others in the array, which would activate in response and cleanse the galaxy of life once more. Originally, the Covenant had been unaware of the Index's importance. Fortunately, the Sanghelli Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee, a special individual chosen by the Prophets, had obtained 343 Guilty Spark, the spherical robotic monitor of Installation 04, while destroying a base that was led by an individual they deemed 'Heretic'. The monitor – known to the Covenant as an 'Oracle' – told the Prophets of the Index and the Arbiter was sent to retrieve the "Sacred Icon". The Arbiter successfully reached the Library and prevented the Human forces from claiming the Index, kidnapping Captain Miranda Keyes and Sgt. Johnson. However, the Index was stolen from the Arbiter by the Brute Chieftain Tartarus, who was under the Prophets' orders to retrieve the Index, and betray/kill the Arbiter. The Chieftain sent the Arbiter plummeting into the lower reaches of the Library where he was thought dead. With the Index secure, the Prophets then ordered the Jiralhanae to begin eradicating the Sangheili, thus beginning the Covenant Civil War – known to them as the "Great Schism". As a direct result of this civil war, the Covenant was split into two parties, more or less: known as Covenant Loyalists and Covenant Separatists. An uneasy alliance was ultimately formed between the Covenant Separatists and the Human forces."

"Meanwhile, in an unknown location, the Spartan-II awoke bound in tentacles and was dragged alongside the company of the Arbiter in front of a _massive_ collection of biomass: the monstrous controlling intelligence of the Flood, known as a Gravemind. However, rather than seeking to infect its two captives, the Gravemind recognized a more serious threat: the imminent activation of the array. After a discussion between them and the Gravemind, it revealed the truth of the array to the Arbiter. In a two-pronged plan, it teleported the Master Chief aboard High Charity to recover the Index, and the Arbiter nearby the Halo's control room to prevent its activation."

"However, as he fought through High Charity, the Master Chief made another chilling discovery, the empty _In Amber Clad_ had been taken over by the Flood and it had infiltrated High Charity's defenses, where it was currently busy infecting it and all those fighting amongst themselves within, placing the galaxy as a whole at risk. Ultimately, the Chief failed at reaching the Index before Tartarus whisked it off to the Halo below. He then perused the fleeing Prophet of Truth to the Forerunner ship at the center of High Charity. Ultimately the sequence of events led to the death of the Brute Chieftain at the hands of the Arbiter and Sgt. Johnson, but not before the brute chieftain forced Johnson to use the Index. It was swiftly removed from the Halo's core. This act, however, tripped a fail-safe mechanism, which placed the entire array on standby, which could be activated from Installation 00. Abandoning what remained of High Charity to the Flood, the Prophet of Truth entered the dreadnought and lifted it free of its moorings, and led all remaining Covenant forces back to Earth where they would activate an enormous portal to Installation 00. The Chief stowed away aboard the Forerunner ship as it fled High Charity, following the Prophet of Truth back to Earth."

"The High Prophet of Truth led the remaining Covenant loyalist Fleet to Earth to complete what the previous mission to Earth had not. Little did he know that a SPARTAN-II had managed to stow away with him on board his Dreadnought. By the time Truth arrived at Earth, a full-scale battle in space and on the ground was underway between UNSC and Covenant Fleets. After a slug-fest lasting several weeks, the UNSC Homefleet was nearly wiped out. However, the Covenant Loyalist fleet was also vastly reduced and focused on securing an enormous unearthed Forerunner structure near what were now the ruins of New Mombasa. With the arrival of John-117, the remaining UNSC forces launched an assault on the area, sweeping aside all Covenant resistance and finally launching an all-out attack on the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner ship. Unfortunately, any tactic proved ineffective against the Forerunner dreadnought, and Truth quickly activated the Forerunner structure and escaped. A small fleet of Human and Sangheili forces was sent through the portal, leading them to the Ark, just outside the Milky Way galaxy. The Covenant Fleet above the Ark immediately attacked; though the joint Human-Sangheili fleet was outnumbered 3-1, the battle ended in defeat for the Covenant Loyalist Fleet. Simultaneous to the space battle between Jiralhanae and Sangheili ships, UNSC forces were deployed to the surface of the Ark."

"The final battle of the war was fought in December 2552 as Truth attempted to activate the entire Halo array. Led by John-117, the Human forces, despite fanatic resistance managed to smash through the remaining Covenant forces on the ground. John-117 and the Arbiter went on to thwart Truth, who died at the Arbiter's hand. John-117 stopped the firing of Halo Array and brought an end to that threat, and Truth's death marked the effective end to the war. Although UNSC _Forward Unto Dawn_ managed an emergency Slipspace jump to escape the destruction of the Ark, the portal ended up collapsing – due to an effort to eradicate a Flood outbreak that had managed to manifest which involved the activation of an incomplete replacement for Installation 04 – severing the vessel in half. Trapped in the rear section of the frigate, John-117 was placed into cryosleep until he could be retrieved, eventually drifting towards a Forerunner world."

"Some months later, in March 3, 2553, a monument was erected on a hillside near the Portal to the Ark to commemorate the billions of men and women killed during the war, and John-117's name was included as he was presumed MIA by the UNSC, as no Spartan could be declared dead for such morale purposes. Admiral Hood shook hands with the Arbiter to officially signify an end to hostilities. The Covenant Civil War would continue for at least another six years between Elite and Brute factions, further depleting their now crumbling infrastructure. The single most destructive conflict in Human history had ended in victory, but at a _staggering_ cost. Both the UNSC and the Covenant Separatists then turned to the enormous task of rebuilding their once great societies after that."

"Now … finally, this is where I come into things. I know this was a _massive_ amount of information to take in, and when you have any questions for me, please … feel free to ask. If you all will indulge me just a little more, I will tell you my personal story, and how I got to Earthland." Cana raised a hand to get my attention and I looked over to her, "Perhaps we can pause here for a moment to get something to drink? I know _I_ need one." I looked over to the pale, ashen faces of those around me and nodded in agreement, "Hmm … perhaps you are right. Very well." I cut the link to the imaging devices, which then switched over to standby mode and instead projected a slowly rotating emblem of the UNSC. Most of the people silently filed out of the room to go get drinks with sullen, thoughtful expressions.

I got up and was about to follow them when Lucy came up to me and hugged me, "I was beginning to wonder why you were so silent when we traveled together, now I know why. You were carrying all that around with you." Initially unsure how to react, I somewhat awkwardly wrapped an arm around her back to give her a quick hug to return the gesture, "And I haven't even gotten to what happened on my homeworld yet or how I got here. You all deserve to know the truth, not just most of it; I've realized that now. Ever since I arrived here in Earthland, I have discovered that the people here don't keep nearly as many secrets around with them as I'm used to; they seem so carefree in comparison … and I guess that created a need to get this weight off my mind."

A metal hand grasped my shoulder; I looked over to see Erza. "Indeed. Since I have returned to the guild, Natsu and Lucy have both told me of how you battled to save Macao, and how you looked out for them both." She grinned at me, "From what I can tell of your combat experience, I would like to spar with you, when you get the chance." I smiled inside my helmet and nodded, "Of course! I was never able to turn down a chance for a friendly sparring match." She smiled before growing serious, "By the way, you said that there were five others with you? Your team?" I nodded, "Yes, one of which is apparently in the hands of Phantom Lord …" Her features took on a dark look at the name "… but as for the other four … I don't know where they are, or even if they are here in Earthland with me … though if they are, I intend to find them. I'm not overly worried though; they ARE Spartans after all. We are, above all else, trained to adapt and survive." I shrugged, "I mean, hell, I'm adapting to magic quite well, I think." She nodded slowly, "From how you describe them, you do seem to be a hardy bunch. I'm sure they are fine. As for your companion … you said she is affiliated with Phantom Lord. Did she … join voluntarily?" I frowned and told her of what I knew of what had happened to Alice.

I balled a fist in frustration as I vowed, "I don't know how just yet, but I intend to extract her from their control. As their commander, it is my duty to see to the wellbeing of those under me." She thought for a moment before facing me with a resolute expression, "I will help you. As will the others here. You have our support, Jai." I was affected deeply by her words. "I … thank you, Erza. When the time comes, I know who to count on. I know it may be a little early to ask, but do you have any ideas yet on how to help?" She thought for a moment before replying, "Not yet, but it sounds like some kind of possession magic. I will have to talk with Mirajane and the master when he returns about what to do." She smiled and reassured me, "But never fear. We will sort this out and return your team member to you." With that, we left to get drinks.

 **** Such as enhancing their lungs' ability to intake oxygen, allowing them to process airborne toxins and foreign gas mixtures; a pancreas replacement; corneal implants, which increased their eyesight and night vision capability; circulatory and metabolic improvement, which allowed blood to circulate better, allowing for subjects to heal faster; and increased nutrient absorption from food.**


	10. Origin

[Last updated: 05/07/18]

 **[Okay, just to let you guys know ahead of time, there's some partial spoilers later on in the chapter concerning the Meta for anyone who hasn't seen up till the ending of season 13 of Red Vs Blue;** _ **YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**_ **. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd highly recommend it; you can find it for free at** show/red-vs-blue. **]**

About ten minutes later, everyone was back and had mugs of varying liquids. I reconnected with the display and a stellar system was displayed before zooming in on the fourth planet from the star. The planet in question was covered in verdant deep green forests, high mountains, sparkling blue oceans, and possessed three moons. It had been _so_ long since I had last seen it, even in projection. I looked wistfully at it for a moment before realizing they were waiting on me. I coughed and stared into the projection as memories washed over me.

"Continuing from where I left off … this was the colony of Angerona … my home for the first six years of my life. It was a relatively new colony; we only had one settlement. As such, things were comparatively simple inasmuch as schooling and jobs were concerned. Even though we had advanced technology compared to how our current standard of living was, we weren't able to fully utilize it until the infrastructure that supported it could be built, and naturally, that took time. Meanwhile a large group of the colony, my father included, became hunters to prey on the local wildlife to feed their families; while that was being done, everyone above a certain age left in the settlement that weren't hunting was charged with important civic duties and my mother was no different. Due to her skillset, she was charged with being the settlement's chief communications officer, and until a more permanent place could be built to house the future equipment and personnel, she set up a comms terminal in one of the rooms adjacent to the one I slept in on the second floor of our house. Some people were also put in charge of what one day would have been mining operations. In school, my schoolmates and I were beginning to learn all about mining tools and methods and other things pertinent to mining. It appeared my generation would have been in charge of mineral exploitation and production. It was a pretty good life; I had a group of friends and a loving family. That time … is like a dream from long ago; however it wouldn't last."

"Several hours after I fell asleep on my sixth birthday, I awoke to what sounded like screams and chaos from outside. I got up and walked over to my window to see what was going on. The scene before me was one of tragedy and panic. I saw people running around in a panicked frenzy, several houses were ablaze, there were bodies in the street, and … there were inhuman silhouettes stalking around. I then looked up and was both confused and scared at what I saw; there was a _massive_ void where there should've been stars. Not comprehending what was going on but sensing something was _very_ wrong, I quickly dressed and went down to the first floor of our house. I could see my parents in the kitchen hurriedly talking together in muted tones, my mother was cooking the next day's meal, and my father was finishing up on sharpening his hunting knife, now cleaned after cutting up a fresh kill. They saw me and before I could ask what was going on, there was a hard knock on the front door. My father set his now sharpened knife onto the table within its sheath. He took out a handgun, thumbed the arming mechanism, and cautiously walked to the door. As he neared the door, my mother pulled me aside and began to gently prod me into the nearby closet. I was about to question her, but then I saw her worried expression and complied. Before she shut the door, she pressed my father's knife into my hands, whispering 'Just in case.' Thanks to her instincts, my mother had just saved my life."

"What happened next … I would see replayed in my sleep for years to come. Between the slats of the closet door, I saw my father open the door a crack … but it was enough. A bright purple light came out of the back of his head and disappeared into the ceiling above him, leaving a hole. Things happened quickly from then on. He fell back limp – the smell of burnt flesh following him; my mother screamed his name and rushed forward to him but a leg appeared from outside the door and viciously kicked her away. Four figures walked into sight; I could identify them by what I've seen on the news: they represented two of the races that comprised the Covenant, one Jackal and three Grunts. The Covenant was on Angerona. My mother crawled away on her back as the Jackal levelled his plasma rifle to her head. She looked over to my hiding place and mouthed three words; 'I love you.' He pulled the trigger, producing the bright purple light once more." Several people gasped, some of the others were crying silently.

"The smaller Grunts split up between them. One nudged my father's corpse and nodded to the other while the third went over to what was left of my mother and looked at her, cocking his head. Thankfully, before they could do anything more, a sensor the Jackal was carrying began to make sounds and it looked over to the stairwell I had just came down from and … squawked … to the others and gestured to them with his gun. Soon enough they were all on the second floor; I could hear them rifling through my room. I crept away from my hiding place and silently shut the door to the stairwell. I looked over to what was left of my parents … " I trailed off suddenly. Mirajane started to say, "Jai …" I shook my head, "No. I'm alright. I … I need to tell the story." I took a few breaths and continued, "I remember seeing them through a watery haze and I remember having to stifle a feeling of grief. Perhaps when I got out of there alive and safe … then and only then would I allow myself to think about what had just happened. Fortunately, my father – always the prepper, had trained me for this eventuality; I knew what I had to do. I made my way into the kitchen and gathered food and bottled water into what was my father's hunting backpack before pausing intermittently, checking for movement. It was then that I looked at the kitchen appliances and came up with a plan for revenge – if they came here looking for something and killed my parents and probably most of the colony to do it, then they were going pay for what they've done … to me, to my parents ... and to Humanity. I was going to set a trap for my unwanted guests; I quickly rolled up a paper magazine and inserted it into a simulated analogue toaster and turned it on. After checking that the copper coils were heating up, I went over to the flexible tubing providing the oven with flammable gas and severed it with my knife. That done, I figured I had a few minutes before things heated up. I grabbed the bookcase that was near the door to the stairs and silently pulled it in front of it. With those energy weapons they sported, the bookcase wouldn't hold them for long, but then again, it didn't need to. I looked around and grabbed my family's photo album and after I stuffed it into my backpack, I remember noticing a picture that had fallen out; it was a happy picture of my parents, myself, and my little brother. He was four years younger than me and my parents decided he would be safer with my grandparents back on Earth, in New Phoenix; I could tell they were beginning to think the same for me … or, they were. I stopped by both of them … I kneeled and gently closed their eyes and said my goodbyes. I made my way outside and around the corner of the next house over when the gas ignited, causing the house to explode, presumably killing the four inside and engulfing the house I grew up in with almost everything inside with flames. However, before I could continue, a figure burst forth from the burning wreckage: it was the Jackal. I'll spare you all the description of him; just know it wasn't a pretty sight. He saw me, squawked angrily, and limped towards me attempting to sight his weapon at me; he was trying to kill me. I drew my father's gun and held it like I had been trained, and fired again and again, barely missing him each time in my anguish and horror. The bastard actually grinned at me before he steadied his arm and levelled his weapon at me. I then finally found my mark as I put one through his skull. My first Covenant kill … one of so many in the coming years. For a few minutes after that, I remained near the burning remains of what was once my childhood home, getting covered in ash, and just … I watched it burn. I think a small piece of me broke that day."

"The next hour was spent running to the small spaceport that housed our evac ships. Somehow the Covenant hadn't destroyed them yet. As she ships' engines began to spool up, I fought the jet wash and neared the gangway leading to the entrance for the only other ship left in the small spaceport that was still accepting passengers. I saw a door open on the spacecraft and a uniformed man waved hurriedly at me. He yelled, "C'mon, kid! We're about to leave!" I hurried and boarded as quickly as I could and I could faintly hear the pilots, they were going through the final pre-flight checklist. I had barely made it. I found my seat before a voice yelled my name. I heard hurried footsteps. I turned around and was embraced by my best friend, Emma. Apparently, she had been worried sick because she couldn't find me. We strapped in side by side so we could talk. We asked each other about our parents and found we shared similar stories. We weren't able to talk much more at that moment because the spacecraft launched into the air just then. A few minutes later I looked over to an external monitor of the evac shuttle as the sight of my home planet came in to view. The next ten minutes were the tensest moments I had felt up to that point, you could almost cut it with a knife; we were waiting to see if we were going to be blown out of the sky. Right when we were about to finally break free of the planets' atmosphere, the other evac ship met up with us … although it wouldn't stay with us. A minute after it met up with us, the ship was hit with a plasma beam from a passing ship, blowing a large hole in the middle of the vessel. It seemed to just … hang there, suspended in the rarified atmosphere for a few moments. I even saw several objects begin to float freely of the craft slowly. Then electricity began to arc dangerously as she ships' engines went critical before it detonated, rocking our ship."

"Now in space, I unbuckled myself from my harness and floated up from it. I went over to an exterior window in the ship's wall and looked down over the colony, and what I saw chilled me to the bone: there was a massive Covenant capital ship low over the planet; right over the colony. I could then see a bright purple light begin to emanate from the underside of the large bulbous section that made up the front part of the ship. Someone screamed, others cried. Other people were outraged and muttered and yelled different things around me; they were going to glass Angerona – our home." I paused for a moment and shook my head, caught up in emotion. "Our pilot somehow made it safely through the enemy blockade and made the transition to Slipspace."

"A few days later, our ship eventually dropped out of Slipspace and docked with a friendly space station around a planet I had never seen; but then again, I was six and had never been off-world before. What was left of the population of Angerona colony made a refugee camp, at the graciousness of the station's commander. That night, I wasn't the only one grieving for the lost. A few days later a bald uniformed man came into the camp we had made – he had a tattoo of what looked like a cluster of arrows on the side of his head. He was here to ask the children of Angerona if they wanted revenge on those who had brought destruction to our lives. I stepped forward, as did many others, including Emma. The man then led us to a large naval ship docked on one side of the station. I never saw the other people of Angerona again."

"We were taken to another planet they called Onyx. For the next few years, I and the others with me were trained to the limit both physically and mentally. We were slated to become part of the next company of Spartan – III's, called Delta company. During that time, our names were changed: I was known as Jai-D256; the "D" was my company designation, and I was 256th in the company. We were beginning to hear rumors of a new Spartan program: the Spartan IV's. Soon enough, the rumors proved to be true and the remaining trainee's – that would be us – would simply be rolled into the new program. Those that wished would be moved to non-combative roles, but I and most of the others went on to become this new breed of Spartan. I was introduced to my new handlers and finished my training under them. By that time, I was thirteen. I was then told that I was the first among my batch of inductees to receive the Spartan-IV augmentations."

Mirajane then raised a hand to get my attention, "Wait, you said Spartan-IV? Didn't you say they replaced much of those soldiers' bodies?" I thought for a moment the nodded, "Yes. My muscles were strengthened, my bones were lengthened and rendered unbreakable, the joints were reinforced, and pretty much all of my organs were replaced with better, stronger, more resilient versions. Those of us from Angerona being augmented had to of course be monitored medically for quite a while as they didn't know what augmenting a teenager like that would do to them physically. Fortunately for us, nothing unexpected happened."

"Anyway, the rest of the group I trained with – which were by now all Spartan-IV's – were transported to Earth and then into the very outer periphery of the solar system in total secrecy by an ONI stealth ship. What we found there, illuminated weakly in Sol's wan light was a symbol of strength, the vanguard of Humanity's future, and one of the best kept secrets in the history of Human endeavor. Built to defend Humanity from an unstoppable foe, the Immense UNSC _Infinity_ only came into service after the war had ended. It was designed to be the most powerful ship ever created by Humanity, incorporating technology drawn from both the Covenant and the Forerunners. It became our home for the foreseeable future, where we trained, lived, and protected Humanity. Although it was forged in the fires of conflict, the _Infinity_ was christened as a vessel of peaceful exploration, and the expansion of Humanity's place in the galaxy. Nevertheless, this new era not was without peril, and the ship experienced battle on numerous occasions in the aftermath of the war."

"I would spend the next few years climbing up the chain of command until I was able to lead my own fireteam: known as fireteam Indigo. The ship was orbiting a newly discovered Halo Installation to help research station Ivanov transport a Forerunner artifact (Which was so large, the only ship that could transport it was the Infinity) for them to study from the Installation when we intercepted the distress signal from what was left of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. We finished up our tasks, the captain notified his superiors of where we were going, and jumped into Slipspace towards the signal. What we found was one of the Forerunner's old Shield Worlds – designate Requiem. We got closer and discovered debris of a ship drifting around a portion of the metallic shell of the planet. When we got close enough to scan the debris, we were scanned instead … by Requiem. A blinding light shown onto the ship as a large aperture opened up and we were pulled in by Requiem's gravity well. In the process, the ship was taken over by a hostile force and was forced to put down on Requiem where we were set upon by Covenant remnants and said unknown hostile force."

"The forces we conflicted with on the planet were soon found to be Forerunner in nature." Mira projected an image of a Promethean Knight. "The Promethean Knight is only one of the types of Forerunner constructs we had to fight; it is an advanced Forerunner AI whose prime directive was combat and defense. It was around then that we met up with John – 117, one of the two survivors of the rear half of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn; we learned from him that the Didact was commanding them from the remnants of his prison, a Cryptym. Events unfolded with the Spartan leading the charge and we eventually made it out of the planet." Natsu gawked at me, "What him again?! How long was he in this … whatever you called it?" I chuckled slightly, "The cryptum? He was in there for about one hundred thousand years, give or take a few millennia. Forerunners had _long_ lifespans. Obviously. Plus, it's my understanding that his cryptum kept him in some kind of stasis for all that time."

"Anyway, there was a _slight_ disagreement between the captain of the Infinity, a man named Andrew Del Rio, and the Spartan. He needed the _Infinity_ to help him take out the immense threat that the Didact posed to Earth and all of Humanity … but the captain didn't see it that way. He ordered the helmsman to take the ship to Earth to ready a final defense. John–117 ended up taking a dropship that was supplied by the XO – the position just under the Captain – who agreed with him about the Didact and went to stop the Didact from leaving the planet that was originally his prison. Del Rio would later lose captaincy of the _Infinity_ for abandoning the Spartan – II."

"I later read the after-action reports and the Didact found a way to leave Requiem on a large Forerunner ship called _Mantel's Approach_ , stop by the space station we had previously helped, stole their research project – which was a piece of Forerunner tech we found out was called a 'Composer' – before entering Slipspace to go to Earth to use it as a weapon against his ancient adversary. The composer was what the Didact apparently used on his army of Forerunner Prometheans to turn them into the robotic sentries we know today. Through some unknown means, it turns biological life into artificial intelligences, with the cost of their biological form."

"While the UNSC home fleet tried valiantly to protect Earth, the shielding of the Didact's ship was much too strong; but we weren't without hope. John – 117 had made his way from Requiem by hijacking a Covenant ship to Ivanov station, then after the Didact test fired the composer on the station, he took a Broadsword loaded with a nuclear bomb and landed on the outer hull of the _Mantle's Approach_ just before it put up its' shields and entered Slipspace. He then flew through the metallic caverns on the outer hull of the ship, dodging point-defense weapons fire as he did so, and managed to knock out a few of the generators powering the defensive emplacements on the ship, allowing the Infinity to use its' main batteries to fire a hole into the ship, which John – 117 flew down."

"While he was ultimately able to stop the Didact and blow up his ship, he wasn't able to do so before the entire population of the city of New Phoenix – a population of over six million people – was composed … at great personal cost to me, and many others. New Phoenix was where my grandparents had moved to years earlier, and by then had my little brother; he would have been around fifteen years old." I felt a single tear make its way down my cheek. "There … there was nothing I could do after the city was composed. There weren't any bodies to mourn over and bury – they weren't even actually dead, but they might as well have been. They were composed by the Didact and irreparably changed into Forerunner combat AI's along with the rest of the inhabitants New Phoenix. I was now officially the only surviving member of my entire family."

"Before I get to telling how I got to Earthland, I should say that during the war, the loss of lives and planets weren't the only prices to be paid; there was a blood price as well. We lost parts of ourselves to it, both literally and metaphorically." Natsu looked me over briefly with a puzzled expression, "What do you mean 'lost pieces of yourself'? I don't see any missing bits." I snorted softly, "It may look like it Natsu, but there is one part of me that is hidden from view." I reached up and manipulated the helmet's release and set it on the table; they could only look at me and gawk, a few even gasped. "What you see now is the result of a battle between an Elite with an energy sword and my fireteam when I was leading us out of a Covenant ship on a strike mission." I picked up my helmet and turned it around so I looked into the visor; my eyes were silver and gunmetal gray metallic prosthetic spheres that each had a soft blue light in place of my retinas; there was a thick scar going through both of my eye sockets that cut through the bridge of my nose.

"We were tasked with a mission to get aboard a Covenant ship and exfiltrate a package important to our superiors. The rest of my team was farther down the passage we were in laying down suppressive fire as we met a pocket of resistance denying us exit when I was set upon from above by the Elite in question. He was cloaked in the optical camouflage his species are so fond of; he was apparently clinging to the ceiling before he dropped onto me, energy sword first. Unfortunately for me, he caught me when my shields were down, which is probably why he targeted me. I was able to react in time and missed _most_ of his swing – which would have taken off the top half of my head had I not dodged it – and instead, my eyes were bisected as the sword passed along the bridge of my nose. All I remember before I blacked out was _excruciating_ pain. The next thing I remember, it was a couple of weeks later and I could see again. Many other people are like me, missing pieces of themselves … arms, legs – that sort of thing. However, fortunately for us, one of the few good things that came from the war were advancements in biomechanical prosthesis – a necessary field that rose up due to the many civilians and military personnel that had missing limbs in need of replacement."

"As for how I got to Earthland … well, instead of just telling about it, why don't you just watch it from my point of view?" Intrigued, Erza asked how they could do that. I smiled at her and tapped the camera on the side of my helmet, "Just watch, Erza." I put my helmet back on and called up my helmet cam's feed from after I put my armor on. As the field of view panned around, I provided commentary. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is S deck. Welcome aboard the UNSC _Infinity_ ; it is a deck of the ship where Spartans train, sleep, and gear up with weapons from a nearby armory and don their armor." The cam captured such a Spartan getting into a machine for his armor. As I knew it would, it eventually showed Spartans gearing up for a mission. "Let me introduce you all to my teammates, this is Fireteam Indigo. Hopefully, you will all meet them properly at a later date." I added under my breath, "... when I find them."

It then showed the footage from when I boarded the pelican, and the events aboard the ship. "Hey, you guys remember how I was talking about the ODST's?" It showed me climbing into a pod, the black of Slipspace, then shortly, in space above Earthland, the planet coming up quickly. It was then Lucy made a small gasp. "The day before I met you in Hargeon, there was a _huge_ fireball in the evening sky heading out east …" Her eyes widened in realization, "THAT WAS YOU!?" I nodded, "That, indeed, it was. Also, since I'm talking about that time in Slipspace, I met someone." I filled them in on what I had experienced on my transition to Earthland. I noticed Mirajane's eyes widen slightly in recognition. "What's wrong, Mirajane? Do you know where I was?" She blinked a few times and shook her head, "I don't know for sure, but we know of an island that looks very similar to what you are describing."

I accepted that and continued on, "The girl never did give me her name, instead telling me to know her as 'a friend', which I'm more than happy to oblige … she saved my life, after all. I can however give you a description of what she looked like, if that would help." Erza and Mirajane shared a look before Erza looked to me and shrugged, "Might as well, you've gotten us all good and intrigued now … not that we weren't already." I gave them the best description as I could of her. "That's all I know about how she looked. She greeted me to her home … she had a name for it, but for the life of me I just can't seem to remember the damn name. Anyway, she told me about your world and of the magic she used to bring me here: Dimensional travel magic … which is why I asked Levy earlier." She nodded with a smile.

"She gave me my magic on that island, yes … but she gave me more than that. Since most of my capabilities revolved around lethality – me being a soldier and all – she then went on to make my weapons default to what she called magic ammunition." I materialized a box of M6 ammo and placed it on the table. "You guys feel that weird feeling coming from the box? That's what I mean. I shoot someone with this and it knocks them out; though if they're strong enough, I'll need to shoot them more with this ammo type to keep them under. But as for swords …" This made Erza look directly at me with her undivided attention. "… I have a plasma sword that cuts through pretty much anything I can find to cut, but only on inanimate objects. If I switch it to its alternate mode however, it'll cut through rock, metal, and bone like a hot knife through butter."

"Finally, you should know that I'm not alone here." Loki asked what I meant. "May I introduce you all to my travel companion, Mira." Mirajane looked at me with a confused look. Mira projected herself into one of the empty seats near Lucy and did a little wave, "Sup guys." Lucy jumped slightly at the appearance of my white companion. She looked at Mira then at me, looking for an explanation. I reached back and pulled Mira's chip from its slot and laid it on the table. Gray, confused, looked from the chip to my head, "Hold on, where did you pull that from?" I gestured to the back side of my head, "I pulled her from the slot in the back of my head, where else would I put it?" He just blinked at me for a minute before getting up and walking over to me. "You mind if I … ?" I did a little shrug with one shoulder and leaned my head forward to look at the table. "Just be careful back there." I could feel the tips of his fingers barely graze the area around my neural interface. Gray exclaimed, "Holy crap, guys – there really _is_ a slot in the back of his head!" I looked at the others and sighed, "It's a normal part of the augmentation procedures for all UNSC personnel. Collectively, they are known as neural interfaces. Long story short, the idea behind this was they were surgically implanted onto the base of the skulls in all military personnel upon activation; they give off a special indicator signal that is picked up on radar to identify the unit as 'friendly'. The overall aim being to avoid friendly fire."

"There is also a kind of neural interface specifically designed for Spartans, such as the one I have. In addition to the standard functions of a Neural Interface, the Spartan Neural Interface is unique in that it is designed to allow an AI to directly interface with the Spartan's brain. Therefore, the AI is said to reside both inside the armor and inside the wearer's mind, essentially, in both places at once. The interface allows the AI access to most of the suit's internal systems, though the Spartan has override control if need be. The AI is capable of significantly improving the data transfer rate between specific parts of the brain of the Spartan and the MJOLNIR's processing unit, further improving the Spartan's already lightning-quick reaction time." Gray asked, "So why is it so important for the two of you to be so closely connected?" I let Mira answer that question for him. She appeared behind his chair and leaned on it, "Well, first of all, we are both able to make judgement calls to make up for each other's' weaknesses, second of all, I experience time 205% faster than a Human, which serves to drastically speed up Jai's thoughts and reaction time."

"To everyone who already asked me a question, I believe I've answered them along the course of my tale except for one." I looked at Erza, "I believe you asked where my armor comes from, right?" She blinked for a second before giving an affirmation. "Well, I'll leave that one to Mira, besides … she has a better grasp of the details than I do." She appeared in her seat near Lucy again, and began a detailed analytical answer for Erza.

"His armor is the latest variation in the line of powered assault armor known as Mjolnir. It is a technologically-advanced combat exoskeleton system designed to vastly improve the strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and durability of a Spartan-II, Spartan-III or Spartan-IV supersoldier. Originally prioritized and advanced parallel to the Spartan-II Program, the Mjolnir powered assault armor is currently the most advanced piece of tactical military hardware in Human hands. The brainchild of Dr. Catherine E. Halsey, Mjolnir is her attempt to create a powered exoskeleton capable of taking full advantage of the physical capabilities of a Spartan. The battlesuit is constructed in overlapping layers. It is a sealed system, capable of extravehicular and submersible activity or operations in toxic atmosphere. It is hardened against EMP and radiation, and has filters that are completely effective at removing toxins and bacteria from the local atmosphere."

"The armor's outer shell is composed of a multilayer alloy of remarkable strength and has been augmented with a refractive coating capable of dispersing a limited amount of energy weapon strikes. The suit contains a gel-filled layer underneath a thick black armored techsuit. The gel layer regulates temperature and can reactively change its density. The inner skinsuit is made of a moisture-absorbing synthetic material linked to an environment control computer and the occupant's UNSC-issue neural interface. An upgrade to the standard Neural Interface is issued to all high-ranking officers; another modified version of the neural lace is issued to all Spartans in the UNSC. This network translates electrochemical signals to digital code and routes them through an interface connection at the rear of the skull. Through this interface, the user's thoughts command the armor's movement and weapons; and input from the onboard sensors comes directly to the user's mind. The kinesis between machine and mind is so fast that it is almost impossible to chart the reaction time."

"Between the external armor and the internal padding is the most devastating weapon the suit carries: a layer of reactive metal liquid crystal. Woven by molecular tools into a superdense optical computer memory, this revolutionary crystalline layer forms a network, capable of supporting the kinds of Artificial intelligence usually reserved for starships, as a type of piggyback system. An A.I.'s personality and processing matrices can be carried by the armor and delivered to the suit via onboard storage in a crystal data chip no larger than a personal credit chit. Such technology did not exist when work began on the Mark I prototypes. At the same time it is amorphous, yet amplifies force, doubling lifting capability and increasing reaction time by a factor of five. Unfortunately the system is _so_ reactive that normal Humans cannot use the suit without _severely_ injuring themselves. Only Humans who have carbide ceramic ossification – a skeletal augmentation – such as a SPARTAN-II's and IV's, can safely wear the suit."

"The suit also possesses other features that enhance its wearer's abilities. It has numerous clips, belts, and magnetic holsters for the attachment of additional weapons and ammunition; an advanced Heads-Up-Display (HUD) linked to sensors in the gloves to detect the type of weapon and devices held, and to project shield strength, ammunition count, a targeting reticle, waypoints, a radio uplink for communication, health monitoring and other helpful data. With an onboard AI using the human mind for parallel processing, the SPARTAN/MJOLNIR combination is designed to be _the most_ devastating intelligence tool ever created."

She then displayed blueprints for a special armor set I knew well. "These are blueprints for the M374 Hephaestus Combat Suit. During the war, the UNSC formed a top secret program called Project Freelancer; its overarching goal was to ensure the security of Humanity in a harsh and violent galaxy. It would pair AI with highly trained soldiers to give them a greater chance of surviving the Covenant. However, one of the benefits of this program were something called armor enhancements. Armor enhancements give soldiers temporary superhuman abilities. (Even more so if the soldier is a Spartan) Now, they were difficult to manufacture and so a limited number of them were produced and in the field; one of the many sub-goals of this program sought to find a way to fix that. Project Freelancer produced many different types of armor enhancements, but they each needed an AI to run properly. Events transpired that ended up with almost all of the soldiers in the program dead, and their AI and enhancements stolen and integrated into one suit by an entity that called itself 'the Meta'. This entity was later killed by a _bunch of idiots_ when it was tied to a car and pushed off a cliff into the ocean below, and due to battle damage its suit had sustained, it drowned."

"After the Insurrectionists (At least the ones who were fighting with the soldiers of Project Freelancer, anyway) were defeated, a UNSC destroyer was eventually found drifting in space. A man by the name of Malcome Hargrove apparently used his position of political power to covertly seize the ship and use it as a mobile command center for his company, called Charon Industries. He would at some point rechristen the ship – whose previous designation remains unknown – as the Staff of Charon. The Meta's helmet (Which presumably held all sorts of data) would later be reclaimed by him and studied. The Meta's original suit was claimed by a group of soldiers when the Staff of Charon was raided in other events concerning a colony planet that was cut off from the UNSC. After the Staff of Charon was re-seized by the UNSC, the blueprints of this suit – along with improvements – were found in the ship's memory and reproduced using the latest Mjolnir version: the Mark VII. Needless to say … this suit – while wildly successful – is _extremely_ experimental in nature; and as such, some things aren't fully completed."

Erza, who had been intently listening, commented, "So, in summary: the suit you're wearing is a marriage of the Mjolnir with experimental blueprints of this … heavily modified combat armor. But, why would this need to be done? Mjolnir sounds like an amazing accomplishment as is." I thought for a second before replying with a small shrug, "To be honest … it was done out of simple curiosity. We had blueprints and possible upgrades for an armor system capable of things many thought impossible. For example, a single soldier could typically only operate a single enhancement at any given time; however, this suit was modified to contain what are called enhancement slots – of which it has two."

Levy asked, "So, if a single enhancement gives a soldier superhuman abilities, what could you do with two that you couldn't do with one?" I nodded and replied, "So you're asking for possible scenarios then? Very well; for example, if I were put into a scenario where I had to infiltrate a building without being detected, I would employ the use of one of two types of camouflage enhancements with an enhancement that amplifies the capabilities of my sensor array; that way, I could get in, retrieve the package, and exfil out. Another example would be pretty much the polar opposite: I could employ the use of strength and speed enhancements for obvious results. And lastly, if I were put into a position to protect something, I have access to a small number of shielding enhancements, one of which I wouldn't be able to move much, if at all, during use."

"Furthermore, since I've arrived in Earthland and began using magic, I've realized I can merely switch the different enhancements in and out as I please using requip, making things _considerably_ easier on my part. However, the suit …" I was about to say more when Natsu interrupted excitedly and asked, "So, if these slot things make you able to do more things at once, why not put in three or four; you know, to _really_ get a fire going?" Gray frowned and yelled at him, "Shut up, flamebrain! It's not nice to interrupt people! He was probably about to say something like that!" I couldn't help but agree with him, "Ahem. Well … yes. He did make an interesting point, though. While the installation of more slots could _conceivably_ allow for more creative uses of enhancements, the suit is currently only able to utilize two slots and stay stable."

Mirajane asked, "'Stay stable …'" She widened her eyes in realization, "You don't mean …" Mira appeared next to her, prompting her to look up to my companion who nodded, "Yes, you're right, Mirajane. The addition of one or more slots to the suit as it is currently would most likely destabilize the powerhouse the second a third enhancement was equipped, effectively turning the suit – and thus Jai and I – into an improvised high-yield bomb." They shrunk back slightly as I sighed, "It's ok, guys. That's only _if_ I were to attempt a third enhancement, which I wouldn't anyway even if I could. Running two at a time is pretty much all I could ask for; three or more would just complicate things unnecessarily … not to mention the blowing up part. Yeesh."

Erza was silent for a moment before asking, "Alright, that's all well and good, but how was it that you came to possess this suit?" I looked at a gauntlet for a second before I responded, thinking. "Remember how I said how I worked hard until I was able to lead my own team? Well, my unit was eventually noticed by command for our quick, efficient, and successful missions. So, in recognition of that, I was offered to have myself and my team outfitted with similar experimental tech; at the time, it was the kind of tech that Spartans could only dream of. So I talked to my team, and we agreed."

I was then asked what my plans were currently. I drew in a measured breath, thinking carefully. "I guess since I have no way to return and rejoin the UNSC in the defense of Earth and what remains of her colonies, I guess the only option left to me is to live out the rest of my life here, in Earthland; as well as put Fireteam Indigo back together. I would also like to get used to and practice magic with Fairy Tail, as well as to get to know you guys much better … that is, if you would have me." I laughed nervously and rubbed the back of my neck self-consciously, "I guess I didn't exactly make the best impression when I first joined, did I."

After a short silence, Erza stood up and came over to me with a confident expression, "Nonsense. You did what you felt was right. You found yourself in an unfamiliar world, with the only people you knew were Lucy, and then later on Natsu, and Happy. After you joined the guild, you didn't _have_ to go with Natsu and Lucy to help Macao, but you did it anyway." I nodded. "Of course, it's what I do. I fight for those who can't stand up for themselves, and I protect those who need defending. That's what it means to be a Spartan, a soldier … a Human." She smiled, "Well said; I could say the same thing for wizarding guilds in general." Lucy said, "Don't feel like you need to keep secrets around us, you're surrounded by friends, ok? We're not going anywhere Jai." I nodded, happy that they were being so receptive and took what Lucy and Erza said to heart.

Macao spoke up then, "You've given us all so much to think about …" He looked over to his empty tankard, "… not to mention _drink_ about. But … thanks, Jai. For opening up to us. As for your family …" I looked over to him, curious. "Well, if we've learned anything from the old man, it's this: Fairy Tail's one big family. Your previous family may be dead, and that's horrible. However, you joined Fairy Tail. I …" He trailed off with a vague gesture into the air before sighing. "I'm not very good with emotional speeches like he is. I think what I'm trying to say is this." He raised his hand in the gesture I saw them all use the first day Lucy and I joined the guild: back of the hand facing me while clenched in a fist while the pointer and thumb are extended, pointer finger pointing up. "Welcome home, Jai." One by one the others mirrored the gesture. I couldn't help but smile at the sight as a strange feeling permeated my chest. Is this what it feels like to have friends? I had almost forgotten what it felt like. Friends.

Everyone eventually filed out of the room to do whatever else they were going to do for the remainder of the day. Lucy came up to me and asked how my last job went. I told her the short version about what happened. "Oh, so you have money then?" I nodded, "Yes, I was thinking on buying a house or something with some of it but …" She smiled and finished for me, "You don't know how to yet, right?" I smiled weakly and nodded sheepishly. "Yeah … I've never really owned anything like a house before. I've mostly resided aboard naval vessels." She thought for a moment, "So … where are you staying at now, then?" I shrugged and replied, "Under a tree here, a bridge there. It's ok. It's not like the elements can touch me." She shivered as she processed that information. "Well … why don't you stay at my place until you find one of your own?" I blinked for a second. What. "C'mon! It'll be fun! I've always wanted a roommate! Plus, I want to show you around Magnolia at some point; it really _is_ a remarkable city." My brain finally caught up with what was going on, "Wait, are you sure? I don't wish to impose …" A hopeful smile grew on her face as she looked at me, "Well, I don't know quite what to say. But I appreciate the offer, and I'll take you up on it." She was delighted.

An hour later, I found myself inside her apartment. It had a really quaint old-worldly feel to it. It was a spacious apartment – judging from what little I actually know of them – that had a stone block bath in the bathroom. The main room apparently held many titles as it held a dresser, a bed, a large writing desk, as well as a few tables, chairs, and bookshelves that looked like they would be better at home in a properly sized living room. Lucy sat on her bed and looked around, "Well? What do you think?" I nodded in approval, "It's a nice place you have here." She looked over to a clock, "Holy crap! Is that really the time?! We need to get to sleep before we begin our mission tomorrow! Wait a minute …" She began looking around with an increasingly frantic look on her face. I also noticed she was blushing slightly. I asked her what was wrong. "Where are _you_ going to sleep? I only have one bed!" Oh. I gently nudged a couch out of the way with a foot and laid down a thick mat that I had found in storage with a blue flourish. "There. That should do for now." She shrugged and we got ready for bed; she went into the bathroom to change. I laid down on my mat.

After she turned out the light in the room, I heard Lucy ask in a sleepy voice, "So, now that you've got all that off your chest, how do you feel Jai?" I was silent for a few seconds before I replied, "I'm feeling much better, Lucy. Thankyou. I guess … I just needed someone to listen to me." She yawned and replied in a drowsy voice, "You're welcome. G'night Jai." I could then tell by her measured breathing that she had fallen asleep. 'Thanks to you too, Mira. You've been a great help. I'm glad we met and became friends.' _And I as well, Spartan. I as well. Get some sleep, I think we'll have a full day tomorrow._

A battlefield strewn with bodies; the living fighting one another while tripping on the dead as they fight. Weapons fire and smoke litter the environment of a ruined city. I get thrown to my side by a Brute chieftain as he raised his gravity hammer for a finishing blow with a smugly confidant expression. He brings it down on my face.

I opened my eyes to see the inside of Lucy's apartment. It was just past dawn and the sun was just beginning to brighten things up. I sat up, took off my helmet, and set it by my side before I rubbed my eyes and sighed. I had never really dreamed before, and now this. Although … given my past, I guess it kind of makes sense that I'd have some pretty fucked up dreams. I looked over to Lucy and could see her chest rise and fall slowly as she slept. Well, it's good to see at least _one_ of us is going to be able to get to work tomorrow with a full night's sleep. Ugh. _Jai … you need your sleep. You've only slept two hours tonight … Not to mention you haven't slept all that much since we arrived in Earthland … You're beginning to worry me, you know._ I put my helmet back on and responded, 'I know, Mira. If these damn dreams could just leave me the _fuck_ alone, then perhaps I'd be able to sleep more than an hour or two at a time.' I ended up laying there, staring at the ceiling, ultimately getting no more sleep. Again. With not much else to do, I watched the sun rise.

 **[And here we have the sad backstory of Jai, as well as some of his capabilities. This boy really needs to get some sleep.]**


	11. Rush To Onibus

[Last updated: 09/17/18]

Later the next day, I found myself at Magnolia train station in the presence of a _very_ unhappy Natsu, who was, of course, quarrelling with Gray. "UGGH! I HATE THIS! Teaming up with you is the worst idea ever!" Gray, with his face practically pressed against Natsu's, agreed with him, "Yeah! Tell me about it, Erza made a _huge_ mistake bringing a _loser_ like you along!" Sparks were flying between the two, to put things lightly. 'Aaaand now they're bickering like an old married couple.'The thought made Mira giggle a little bit and said jokingly, _They should just kiss and get it over with, if you ask me._ Oh, the sass on this one. Truly, she is the Queen of Sass. I was smiling though; she was a great companion to travel with.

I looked over to the nearby bench where Lucy and Happy were sitting; Lucy had one of her smaller celestial spirits (Pet?) on her lap. I later learned from Natsu that the little guy's name was Plue. He was a small white humanoid that stood at one and a half feet tall with bland eyes and a golden horn-like nose reminiscent of a carrot that gave him the slight appearance of a snowman. I noticed his body was shaking, almost constantly, though this didn't always occur. He mostly communicates by using gestures. Although he appears capable of vocalization, the only sounds he seems to be able to make are unintelligible cute-sounding noises. When I asked him, Natsu claimed to understand him; Mira and I, however, are dubious of that fact.

I heard Lucy comment, with her head in a hand, "Let's just sit here and pretend we don't know them.", referring to Natsu and Gray. Happy asked her, "What made you decide to come along with us?" I drew near, as I myself had been wondering about that. "Mirajane asked me to tag along." As best I could tell from her explanation, she had wanted Lucy to come along with us to stop them from (Metaphorically) tearing each other's throats out. Happy commented that she wasn't doing a very good job. Lucy sighed and gestured futilely at the duo, "What can I say? They're hopeless." Then Erza suddenly came in out of nowhere, "Sorry I'm late; have you been waiting long?" Lucy brightened and looked up, "No, not really …" She trailed off as her eyes widened when she saw the sheer amount of luggage that the other woman was bringing along with her. She needed a large wagon to transport it all. _Holy shit! What do you think she's packing in all of that luggage?!_ 'I don't know; perhaps clothes or weapons? That's what I would pack … _if_ I packed.'

And like clockwork, Natsu and Gray got all buddy-buddy. Erza looked over to them approvingly, "Good; I really love to see the two of you getting along." She then began to talk to Lucy about her and I recently joining up … I got the impression that she had heard _vastly_ overhyped rumors of Lucy's abilities, I mean, Lucy could take care of herself, to be sure; however, what she was describing were just flat out and out lies. Natsu tore himself away from Gray for a second to talk to Erza, "Hey Erza, I'll come with you only under one condition." _Why did he come this far if he might not have come with us? Does he EVER think things through?_

This drew her interest, "Oh? Well then, let's hear it." Natsu clenched a fist and grinned confidently, "Ok, I want a rematch when we get back to Fairy Tail!" This caused Lucy and Gray to flip out slightly at him, the latter asking him if he had some kind of death wish. Natsu clenched a fist and grinned confidently towards Erza, "I'm a lot stronger than I was last time! This time will be _way_ different; because I'm going to **beat you**!" She paused briefly before replying; no doubt she was analyzing Natsu. "Yes, I can tell you've improved. As to whether or not you can beat me … suppose we will have to see. I accept your challenge." Embers suddenly started flying from Natsu, before his head – comically enough – burst into flames, "OH YEAH! I'M FIRED UP!" Apparently he meant that literally.

A little later on after we had climbed aboard a quaint steam train, Natsu was sitting in the seat next to me in the cabin we got to ourselves along with Erza, Lucy, Happy, and Gray. Natsu was slumped against the wall and had a sickly pallor to him. Gray fixed him with a stare, "I swear … you're totally pathetic, Natsu. One minute you're picking a fight, and the next you're like this." Lucy looked over to Natsu and said quietly, "It's gotta be tough on him getting from place to place." Erza simply smiled calmly, "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Then to Natsu, she sweetly said, "Come here and sit with me." A sickly 'Aye' could be heard from Natsu as he and Lucy traded seats. He was now sitting beside Erza, _clearly_ uncomfortable. Erza put an arm over his shoulders and said, "Now, just relax." He nodded weakly, "Aye." That was the last thing he said before Erza gut punched him _hard_ in the belly, knocking him out and ending up with him sprawled on her lap. She sat up, relaxed her arms to her sides, and nodded approvingly at her work, "There. That should make the trip a little easier on him."

Gray, who was looking impassively out the window at the rolling landscape, turned his gaze back our way with a serious expression. "Erza? I think it's about time you started filling us in; I mean, what kind of job are we going on here?" She nodded, suddenly all business, "Of course. I believe the dark guild Eisenwald is planning something big; I'm not sure what exactly, but it has something to do with a magic item called Lullaby." Lucy spoke up, "Wait, that thing from before?" As it turns out, she had run into them before. Around the time I was doing my jobs after Lynna village, she had apparently gone on a job with Happy and Natsu where Happy had been taken hostage by hungry dark mages they believed belonged to a dark guild named Eisenwald.

I simply leaned back in my seat and listened to their discourse; I still felt pretty talked out from last night. I couldn't remember the last time I had talked that much about _anything_ … nor for so long, but … my new friends deserved answers, and I gave them. Anyway, they talked about Eisenwald, or at least a splinter group of them that – from what I can tell – apparently has possession of an item called 'Lullaby'. Supposedly, this item is _so_ imposing that it even had dark wizards – the majority if the criminal element of this world – scared of it. Erza began explaining how she came by all this information.

It turned out that she stopped by a pub in a place called Onibus on her way back to the guild after completing a job. She knew that this place was a gathering spot for local wizards. She had overheard a group of drunken mages talking rather loudly, bitching about how they had finally found Lullaby and how they couldn't do anything about it because of a seal. A mage of their group had then gotten up, and declared that the others shouldn't worry, that they should tell someone by the name of Erigor that he would be the one to bring it back to their guild in three days' time.

I took the opportunity and asked, "Lullaby? Like the song you sing to get kids to sleep?" She nodded, "Yes. And the fact that it had been sealed away means that it must have been a very powerful magic." Gray asked her, "You sure the guys you saw in the pub are in Eisenwald?" Another nod. "Yes, I can't believe I was such a fool that day. I didn't recognize his name; _Erigor: the Ace of Eisenwald_. He only accepts assassination requests, which is why he's earned the name "Erigor the reaper". I asked the obvious question, "So. This … _Erigor_ , he kills for money?" She nodded at me and continued, "When the council outlawed assassination requests, Eisenwald decided that money was more important than the council's rules. As a result, they were kicked out of their wizard league six years ago; but that didn't stop them. They've disobeyed orders and have remained active to this day."

I winced in sympathy as she pounded a fist into Natsu's back in frustration. _He's going to feel that tomorrow._ "How could I have been so careless?! If I recognized Erigor's name that day, I could've _pulverized_ them! I could've forced them to reveal their scheme to me!" I scooted forward a bit in my seat and leaned back to get into a better position and said, "So, if I've got this straight: Eisenwald's planning to do something with this 'Lullaby', and you wish to stop them because from what you overheard, you're _sure_ it's going to be something bad." She balled a hand in frustration and nodded, "That's correct. And I'm not foolish enough to believe that I can take on an entire magical guild all by myself; that's why I've asked all of you for your help: we're storming the Eisenwald guild. Gray leaned forward, a grin plastered on his face, "Sounds like fun to me!" Happy enthusiastically emitted his trademark "Aye!". I chuckled confidently said, "Is that all? This'll be easy." I then noticed as Lucy started to practically break out in a nervous sweat … I couldn't say I blamed her, as most of her capabilities seemed to be supportive in nature. She has Taurus, to be sure, but her mermaid chick seems to be a rather double edged sword. _What IS her deal with Lucy, anyway?_

We finally reached the next station in the trip, and we paid our fares. Although I'm not proud to admit it, I had to rely on Lucy to assist me with how much money to pay the man. I _really_ need to find a book or something about their currency, it's just not making sense to me and this is getting to be kind of ridiculous at this point. (Although, it _is_ nice to be able to pay for something by myself, at the very least) I had intended to do it while I was at the guild, but I got … distracted. I looked over to Erza at that thought. Mira scoffed, _Yeah, you sure did. So … speaking of which, you ready to talk about that yet?_ 'No. Just … let's get back to the guild, ok? I'll talk as _much_ as you want then; I promise. Until then, that would just be too much of a distraction.' _Oh yeah, talking about her WHILE staring at her ass, that would be too much for you, huh? Ok. Fine. I'll wait._ I had to struggle to hold in my laughter. This woman. I could just about imagine the deadpan expression as she gave that line.

While we waited for the train to go through its' motions to start back up, we decided to get something to eat. Gray got a sandwich of some kind, Erza was eating a large slice of strawberry cake, and I found some kind of spicy chicken burrito; at least I _thought_ it was chicken. I requipped my helmet off and took a bite. It tasted like it, although many things do, it seems. Anyway, as we ate, Lucy asked Erza what kind of magic she practiced and if she could show it to her. "That's a good question." Happy jumped on his seat excitedly while eating a fish and said, "Erza's magic is _really_ pretty! She makes her enemies bleed. A lot." As she finished her bite of cake, Erza commented, "Personally, I think Gray's magic is much more beautiful than mine." Gray swallowed a bite, put his lunch down next to him, and got into his combat stance: a fist balled onto the center of his other palm. "Oh, like this?" He activated a light blue magic seal as cold winds started to blow around the cabin. He separated his hands to reveal a small, icy replica of the Fairy Tail emblem. "I use ice magic." Lucy snorted softly, "Now I understand why you and Natsu don't get along! He's fire, and you're ice; talk about not mixing very well." Erza chewed thoughtfully as she made little gestures with her fork, "Hmm … I've never thought of it that way." Gray smirked, "Nah, I just hate his guts."

Finally, we made it to the end of our ride and we got off the train. Gray asked, "You think the Eisenwald guys will be in this town?" Erza just shrugged, "I have no idea. That's what we're here to find out." Lucy commented in a low voice, "I'm still thinking that maybe I should go home." It was then that Happy – who had climbed onto my shoulder – looked around and asked, "Hold on, what happened to Natsu?" We did an about-face as we ran back to the station just in time to see the train we came in on, presumably still holding Natsu, pull away at full steam ahead. Happy said, "Uh oh, there he goes."

Lucy just stood there agape at the sight, mouth open in shock. Erza clenched her fists in anger, "I was so busy talking that I _forgot_ about him! I'm such a fool! Natsu _hates_ all forms of transportation; this is all my fault! I need one of you to come and hit me for my penance!" _I can't tell if she's serious, or just being dramatic right now._ I walked up to her and flicked her on the shoulder. She flinched and looked up, possibly expecting more. "Erza, you're Human. We make mistakes. Besides, you didn't _mean_ to leave him on the train, right?" She shook her head. "Good." I helped her up from the kneeling stance she had adopted by then. I looked around, "Now then … is there a way to stop the train? We can't leave him on that thing."

As quickly as we could, we made our way to the main building along the railway with Erza leading the way. She found what I took to be an important looking lever and pulled, activating a chorus of alarm bells – actual bells! It was then a cross man in a navy blue uniform came up to her; he looked like he worked there. "What do you think you're doing, lady?! You can't just pull the emergency lever without permission!" She calmly said to the man, "It's for our comrade, please understand." The man took a step back in surprise, "Are you kidding me?" Erza then told the man to take her luggage to the hotel. "What do I look like lady, a bellhop?" _Actually … in that uniform? Yeah, he kind of does._ I could hear Lucy comment in the back that she was coming to think that all wizards in Fairy Tail are a little insane. Gray, who was in his underwear again, replied, "Well, not all of us." Surprised, she looked him and asked, "Oh yeah? Where are your clothes!?"

We quickly decided that it would be best to try and catch up to Natsu while the train was stalled; I began to think of the best course of action before Erza gestured for me to follow her, she already had a plan. I shrugged and followed, curious. She led us to some sort of vehicle that I later learned was called a 'Magic Mobile': it looked like some kind of weird mashup of a car and a horse-drawn carriage; the seat of the carriage being where the engine would normally have gone, with some kind of rudimentary control mechanism before the seat. Overall, the driver was put out in front of everything, left to the tender mercies of the elements. _Please_ let this be some kind of prototype that they released for some reason and they will go back later on and finish it?

Erza took the chair and fixed some kind of apparatus onto her wrist, grabbed the controls, yelled for us to climb in, and the second the last foot left the ground, we were off at high speed. Lucy and I had made it into the cabin of the vehicle, Gray, on the other hand, was clinging onto the roof for dear life. Erza sped us down the road and eventually ran parallel to the tracks leading out of town, towards the train that held Natsu. We closed in on it and I could see one of the last few cars had its' roof split down the middle like an overcooked loaf of bread. We came up to it just in time for Natsu to jump out of a large hole in the side of the car in question … and right into Gray to headbutt him at high speed. Erza stomped on the breaks. I looked out and saw the two of them lying on the ground on their backs with stars in their eyes. Erza asked them if they were all right, I heard a weak 'Aye' from one of them. _I swear … these Earthland wizards … so incredibly durable! That kind of collision should have killed them both!_

However, they couldn't have been hurt too badly, seeing as they were back on their feet arguing a minute or so later, albeit with large lumps on their heads. "That HURT you idiot!" Natsu gritted his teeth, "Shut up you icy freak! How come you guys left me on the train?!" Erza sighed, "I'm just thankful you weren't badly injured. I apologize, Natsu." And with that, she grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into her metal breastplate in a forceful hug. Natsu rubbed the side of his head, "It's ok! I'm still shaken up pretty bad, I got attacked by a weirdo on the train." Lucy gasped and placed a hand on her mouth, "Are you serious?" He crossed his arms and said, "I think it was the dude who dragged away the guys who were going to eat Happy." Wait, what? "He said he was with Eisenwald." This got Erza's attention, and she slapped him so hard he fell to the ground. "You fool! This is _exactly_ who we're chasing on this mission! WHY DID YOU LET HIM GET AWAY?!" Natsu got up on his knee, hand rubbing his cheek, "What the … this is the first I've heard about it!" Erza continued angrily, "I explained everything on the train! You should _listen_ to people when they talk to you!" Meanwhile, Lucy, Gray, and I were in a little back behind Erza, out of earshot as Lucy deadpanned quietly, "She completely forgot she knocked him out, didn't she? This woman is unbelievable." Gray agreed. Happy quipped, "That's Erza for ya!"

We all piled back into the magic vehicle and Erza said, "So … he was on the same train we were on. Let's find him." Gray and Natsu talked about the guy he 'met' on the train. Natsu said, "He didn't look like the guy from a dark guild, and he had some kind of strange flute; it looked like a skull, except it had three eyes." Lucy said, "A three eyed skull?" Gray commented that that was creepy. Lucy had the look of deep contemplation; Happy asked her if something was wrong. "It's just … I've heard about that flute before … Lullaby." She looked up suddenly with a worried expression, "The cursed song! It's death magic!" Gray asked, "A cursed song? Like an incantation?" Lucy shook her head and shrugged, "I've only ever read about it in books before … but there are deadly spells out there forbidden to be used by wizards." Erza took on a serious expression, "That's right, there are cursed black magic spells that kill the person that they are used on." Lucy continued, "Well, if I'm right, then Lullaby's even worse." Well shit.

A little while later, Erza had us speeding down a mountain road, jostling everything inside the vehicle violently. (I'm still more than a little hesitant on calling it an actual car) Gray, who was clinging to the roof again shouted, "Hey! Slow down Erza! You're using up too much of your power driving this thing!" I heard her reply, "I have no choice but to press onward! We're running out of time, if Erigor gets his hands on this death magic … trust me, lives will be lost! Curse them! What is it they hope to accomplish? This is madness!" I increased my hold on the vehicle as we went over yet another rough patch.

We eventually made our way off of the trail and parked on a cliff above to overlook a small train depot named Kunagi Station. A reason I could think that we were parked all the way up here, instead of near the station itself, is because of the presence of military soldiers there. (Although they looked nothing more than footsoldiers to me) I too looked out briefly to get a better look at them, since we had been too busy running from them when we were back in Hargeon. Mira and I conversed quietly, and agreed that the general look to them reminded us of how medieval knights looked, if not slightly different.

The typical soldier seemed to be outfitted with a simplistic helm constructed of what looked like steel and some kind of cloth – or decorative covering – with a length of chainmail attached to the aforementioned helm that draped around the shoulders. On the body, they wore a – presumably reinforced – outfit of vertically striped mustard yellow and navy blue with black leather boots. _Jeesh, who picked these colors out for them, the combination is absolutely garish!_ They were armed with shields that shared the design motif that bore some kind of sigil upon their corners. As for offense, they each held decorative spears that had bright red tassels below the blade – which were decoratively inlaid with some kind of material that glowed faintly; of course, the glowing may have just been the way the light shone off them.

Lucy poked her head out of the window to look down at the structure and wondered aloud, "I can understand cars and boats, but why would they hijack a train?" Happy looked out with Lucy and agreed, "Yeah, it doesn't really seem like it would be a good choice for getaways since it can only follow the tracks it's on." Erza, who was looking down to the station said, "Yes, that's true … they are quite fast." Meanwhile, while they were talking, I had found a seat with my back to Erza, looking at a more than nauseous Natsu and a comfortable looking Gray … who had somehow stripped to his underwear again when I wasn't looking. "I guess it's up to us to figure out where those Eisenwald guys were going in such a big hurry and why." Lucy pulled her head back in and turned around to look at Gray in shock before yelling at him for being in his underwear again. Gray merely looked down, mild surprise evident in his face, as he asked, "Am I?" Lucy shook her head and poked it out the window again, "The military's already been called to action, so it should only be a matter of time before someone catches them." Agreeing, Erza said, "I hope that's the case, Lucy." She engaged the vehicle and drove off at breakneck speed.

We made it to an urban settlement and Erza took a corner fast, skidding the vehicle on its side wheels. Gray, (Who was back on the roof for some reason) yelled down to Erza to slow down; that she was going to overload some kind of plug. She simply increased her speed and said, "There's no telling how many innocent people could die if Lullaby's song is played! I _can't_ slow down, we have to stop Eisenwald before it's too late!" Gray slammed a fist in the roof above us, "But at this rate, you're going to use up all your magic before we even start fighting!" I looked out at her, and she smiled, "Well then I'll just have to rely on hand-to-hand combat. Besides, I've got you, Natsu, and Jai as backup!" Back inside, Happy, who was sitting beside Lucy, commented, "I feel like there was something important I was supposed to tell you, Lucy." She looked down to the cat, "Oh really? Well, what was it?" He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, "I don't remember … it was just something about something I was supposed to tell you … Um, you're …" Natsu interrupted from the floor in a shaky voice, "I'm going to be sick for real!" Happy nodded at Natsu, "That's it!" Lucy yelled at Happy again.

Natsu climbed up to the seat and forced himself partially out the side window. Lucy rushed to him to pull him back in, "Woah! Watch out, Natsu! You're gonna fall out!" I heard a nauseous reply, "That's what I'm aiming for!" Happy, meanwhile closed his eyes and retreated into his mind, thinking hard about what he needed to tell Lucy. All of a sudden, Erza exclaimed, "What's that up ahead?!" I looked outside in time to read a sign for Oshibana station. I looked ahead to the side of Erza, and saw a large stone building with a thick, black ribbon of smoke coming out of the side.

We got near, and parked. I disembarked as Erza rushed towards the crowd and to a uniformed man with a simple megaphone. She put a hand on his shoulder, "Excuse me! What's going on?" Annoyed, the man looked over his shoulder, "And why should I tell _you_ , lady?" In response, she headbutted the man to the ground; she then went up to the next rail worker and asked him the same question. When he didn't answer, she proceeded to head-butt him too. She then went on to do the same for the next rail worker, and so on. Lucy, who was holding Natsu up, commented, "Hmm … it seems like her questioning method is a _little_ counterproductive." Gray, still in his underwear, walked up beside her and said, "Erza's got her own way of getting things done." Lucy asked him where his clothes were.

Erza, who apparently had either run out of people to headbutt, or received what she asked for, came up to us with a serious face. "The Eisenwald guild's inside! Come on!" Gray nodded, "Right." Lucy gestured to Natsu with her free hand, "So I've got to drag this one around?" I heard a choked apology come from Natsu.

We proceeded to make our way into the station proper; I looked around. The very large, long room we found ourselves in had to be about two and half stories tall, with a large rounded roof capped on both ends by windows made to fit the dimensions of the roof. As we ran, Erza continued debriefing us: "A small army unit stormed in earlier, but they have yet to return. I'm guessing they've been caught in battle with the Eisenwald forces." Sure enough, we came upon a stone staircase strewn with the broken bodies of the missing soldiers. Several of them gasped; Happy said with disbelief in his voice, "They've been completely wiped out!" I spoke up, "Well, of course they've been completely wiped out. No disrespect meant to the fallen men here, but they were sent in alone to go up against an entire guild. A small contingent of normal soldiers such as this would never have stood a chance against such odds – at least not on its own."

We climbed the staircase, careful not to tread on the bodies around us, and went through the double doors at the top. A low laugh emanated from a man before us, echoing sinisterly around us from the hard surfaces of the station. "Step into our parlor, Fairy Tail _flies_!" In front of us, there stood what looked like the entire dark guild, Eisenwald. With a panicked expression, Lucy exclaimed, "There's so many of them!" Erza stepped forward a few paces and looked over to a thin man with a very large, vicious looking scythe sitting precariously on the ledge of a large window. "You fiend! I take it you're Erigor?" The man in question simply laughed in a low register. Meanwhile, Lucy, who had put Natsu on the floor, was rocking him back and forth in an attempt to rouse him, "Come on Natsu, wake up! We need your help!" I glanced at him; it indeed looked like he would be out of the picture for some while. Happy walked over to her and looked at Natsu, "Good luck! Between the train, magic mobile, and your shaking, it's a motion sickness triple combo!"

One of the men clustered on the other side of the large room eyed Natsu and said in a low, dangerous voice, "Hey you! It's _your_ fault I got in trouble with Erigor! Get up!" Somehow, that was enough for life to flow back into Natsu's prone frame. He blinked and then focused his senses in the direction of man in question. "I know that voice!" Erza took a step forward, "We're not threatened by any of you! Tell me what you're planning to do with Lullaby!" The man known as Erigor smile wickedly, "Oh, you haven't heard yet?" He nimbly jumped into the air, and with a gust of wind, flew higher into the air. Oh, storm magic again; this could get interesting. "What do all train stations have?" Lucy exclaimed, "He flew?!" Happy said, "It's wind magic!" Storm magic, wind magic … whatever. I'm not convinced there's an appreciable difference. He alighted on one of the announcement systems speaker poles and kneeled. Erza gasped, "You plan to broadcast Lullaby's song?!" He laughed heartily, "Thousands of nosey onlookers have flocked to the station to get a glimpse of the action. Who knows? If I raise the volume enough, it may be able to extinguish the whole city with my melody of death!" Erza narrowed her eyes at him, "What reason do you have to commit such a heinous crime against the innocent people of this town?" He grinned, and answered, "This is a cleansing of all of the fools out there who fail to appreciate the rights they hold so dear; who remain so willfully ignorant of the plight of those who have had their rights stripped away. They've committed the sin of turning a blind eye to the world's injustice … therefore, the Reaper has come to punish them!"

Lucy yelled, "But killing them isn't going to help you get your rights back! It's only going to make everything worse! That's the whole reason you were kicked out of the wizard league in the first place!" Erigor raised a hand as he spoke this next phrase then balled it into a fist to emphasize it at the end, "At this point, we've _given up_ trying to regain our rights. We want power! Then we will be able to wash away the sins of the past and take control of what happens in the future!" Lucy was shocked for a moment before saying, "You guys are completely insane!"

One of the men in the front of the group kneeled and placed a hand flat on the floor, "We're rolling in a new age of darkness!" His face began to be lit up from below by a purple light, "Of course, by the time it gets here, you flies will be long gone!" Several thick, dark appendages shot out from his shadow, separated themselves from the floor, and rose up to attack us. But before they could hit, they were defeated by a fiery counterattack from Natsu. The man just stared at Natsu, " _You_ again?" Natsu grinned at him, "Eisenwald dude! I _knew_ I recognized that voice!" Lucy turned her head to him, "You're back to normal!" Natsu looked around at those gathered before us, "Oh, wow! It looks like we've got ourselves a party here, huh?" Lucy corrected him, "No, Natsu! These are the guys we have to fight!" He grinned and forcibly met his palm with a fist. "Like I said, it's a party!" I couldn't say I disagreed.

Lucy pointed to Erigor, who was smirking from atop his perch at us, "This is the strongest team Fairy Tail has to offer! You better be ready!" Erigor simply flew straight up, then spoke to his men, "I leave them to you! Show them the terror of the dark guild Eisenwald!" His image stuttered before vanishing. Erza then ordered Natsu and Gray to pursue him; that if they worked together, not even Erigor the Reaper could defeat them. She was leaving him in their hands. Of course, they had their faces pressed together in animosity until Erza gained a nasty glint to her eyes and yelled at them, "What did I say?!", scaring them into both running after him with a panicked 'Aye' from each. A few of the members from Eisenwald used their various magics to go after them.

Erza was looking after them as she spoke, "We'll catch up with them once we've finished up with the men here, ok?" Concerned, Lucy asked, "Us? Against an entire magical guild?!" Erza, meanwhile, placed a hand before her, palm out facing the enemy, said "Let's do this!" and requipped a sword using a blood red magic circle that appeared some distance above her. The sword spun at high speed as it materialized until she expertly caught the blade, planted it in the ground before her in one smooth motion, and glared at her enemies with her crimson shoulder-length hair blowing around her dramatically all in one smooth motion. _I wonder if the dramatic hair was on purpose_. "If you insult the Fairy Tail guild again in my presence, I swear none of you will live to see tomorrow!" In answer, about thirty men leapt high into the air, obviously with the aid of magic, and brought swords to bear as they targeted Erza and I.

Not to be outdone, I leapt into the fray with a roar behind Erza. In the back of my mind, I could hear Lucy and Happy talking about requip. I couldn't focus on them, though, as Erza and I went to work taking out the trash. (I also vaguely remember something about Lucy and some kind of crab-man … I think it was one of her Celestial Spirits)

I landed in a thick group of men who quickly surrounded me, blades drawn and pointed at me; I sighed … they never will learn, will they? If you face off with a Spartan, you're going to have a bad time. However, before I could bring out a weapon – in retrospect, something I should have done prior – I felt hands on my shoulder blades and snapped an elbow back for a man to be sent flying with a broken nose. I reached a hand forward and tried to summon my DMR for it to pretty much fizzle out in my hands. I looked at my hand, "What the … ?" Dark chuckling emanated from the group. One of the men before me smiled and noted, "Yeesh. You sure did a number on Todoroki." I looked up to him and calmly asked, "Wha – what did you do to me?" The man grinned and replied, "Simple. We nullified your magic. Don't worry though, it should come back within a few minutes. However, you'll be cut to ribbons on the floor long before then." So. That's the game, eh? Well, time to break the bad news to them.

I started laughing, confusing them. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, gentlemen, but you just eliminated the … mmm … shall we call it, the "painless" option for me?" The man cocked his head to one side, curious. "Oh? And what do you mean by –" He wouldn't be able to finish his sentence on account of his mouth being full of shattered teeth and my fist. For the benefit of those still conscious around me, I decided to graciously answer his half-voiced question. "Because I don't _need_ a weapon to take you guys down. I AM A WEAPON!"

I began using my hand to hand training to take out my enemies; they weren't even _worth_ the use of my weapons anyway. Bones gave way under my blows: jaws were shattered, fingers were snapped like kindling, arms and legs were broken with surgical strikes. However, I made sure not to land a blow on anything _too_ important. I was taking pains to keep from killing them all out of sheer habit.

A few minutes later, I had finished up all the enemies around me; all of them crying and moaning in pain around me. I looked over and there were still quite a crowd around Erza, who was fighting valiantly. She was skillfully requipping an impressive arsenal of weapons at a blinding speed: spears, swords, axes … you name it, she used it. I noticed the reason she had so many to fight was because the crowd around her was being continuously fed with new bodies from the group on the other side of the room: they were wisely avoiding me, however it wouldn't help them. I fought my way into the center where she was fighting. Soon enough, we were fighting back-to-back. I heard her say, "Still so many; annoying, but I'll wipe them out. If you'll give me a moment, Jai?" I turned around to look at her, she had despawned her weapons and had her arms down to her sides. Her armor began to glow brightly until the effect spread to the ends of her body as well.

From the sideline, I heard Happy comment, "Most magic swordsman only have the ability to swap their weapons, but Erza is able to swap her armor for special enchanted armor that enhances her abilities. It's a talent only she possesses. That's what makes her magic special, it's a technique called, 'The Knight'." When the glow abated, I saw she had plated armor covering her chest, with a large metal flower over it, and she was wearing a large billowing skirt that had metal plating in the upper area. Her stomach and neck were left uncovered, and she had large metal wings that appear to be made of individual blades, as well as a wing-like headpiece. The armor she requipped into was called Heaven's Wheel. Mira was enthused, _Oh wow! She's so pretty!_

Lucy and I (As well as all the men in the opposing guild) approved her change of armor. That is, until she used it against her enemies. Probably thanks to the metallic wing-like structures of her armor appearing loosely attached to her shoulders, she rose several feet in the air, spawned many other swords (Holding two of them in her hands) around her arrayed in a circle and made them spin until they glowed brightly with the order, "Now … DANCE my swords!" She attacked with blinding force, literally cutting through all of her opposition that sent men flying everywhere; they stayed wherever they landed. Lucy gasped, "Woah! She took them down with a single swipe!" _She is indeed a formidable swordswoman._ One of the idiots left went to attack her, she cut through his sword (Rendering it as so much finely made scrap) and defeated him in one swipe as well. I heard one of the enemies shout her name: she was Titania Erza, Queen of the Fairies. That done, she placed her arms down at her sides and requipped back into her normal armor. The only remaining enemy (Who appeared to completely lack a nose) turned tail and ran; I can't say I blamed him ... after a show like that, I believe I would have done the same, were I in his shoes.

Erza looked after the man and frowned and said to Lucy, "Hmm … I would imagine he's going to look for Erigor. You should go after him." Lucy hesitated, "Who, me?" Erza gained a glint in her eyes and ordered the other girl to do it, who ran off to comply. When she was gone, she then fell into a kneel, breathing heavily, "Gray was right; I overdid it on the Magic Mobile. Please boys, don't fail me." I walked closer to her, hand hovering in the air near her in worry. "Erza, are you alright?" The woman grunted slightly as she got back to her feet, she looked a little frayed around the edges from the magic she expended in the battle. She nodded, "Yes, I'm fine." She smiled weakly, "Although … I may have used a large amount of my magic today." She shook her head and sighed, "It can't be helped. Come on, we need to warn the people outside of the danger posed here." I nodded, "Lead the way." As we walked, she fixed me with an appraising look, "You fought well back there. I'm impressed." I laughed nervously slightly, "Well, chalk it up to about a decade and a half of being in and out of combat, but thanks, Erza." She smiled briefly then focused back on leading the way.

We found an equipment cabinet in one of the offices that held what looked like a megaphone. She offered one to me, "No thanks, I have my own." I tapped the outside of my helmet. We then found our way to a balcony outside overlooking the ocean of people. We readied our megaphones and delivered the message, 'If you value your lives, then you will leave this place at once! This station has been taken over by evil wizards; they are threatening to broadcast a deadly spell over the loudspeakers that would kill everyone here! I beg you, run as far as you can!' A few station workers appeared next to Erza. (Huh, I thought she knocked them all out) The nearest one said, "Hey lady! Why would you make everyone panic like that?" She looked over to him and replied, "I would rather that than watch all of these people die. In fact, you gentlemen need to evacuate as well."

I turned and watched as everyone in the crowd before us turned and ran until they were but a black blob in the distance. I wondered aloud to her, "Now that everyone has evacuated, I wonder what Erigor's next move will be." I turned around and couldn't believe what I saw: it looked like a contained, slightly conical tornado was centered around the station, it was a wind barrier; we were just outside it. A red dot appeared on my motion tracker from above, I turned my head to see it was Erigor himself. He didn't look poised to attack, rather he had a smirk on his face and looked to be rather enjoying himself. "I've always wanted the opportunity to fight the Queen of the Fairies … but unfortunately, I don't have time to play with either of you right now." As he finished his statement, he raised a hand, palm facing us, and a blinding purple light began to glow in the middle. A magic circle formed that forced Erza and myself through the barrier and into a pillar, I left a sizeable crater in it before I fell to the ground. Erza got up and attacked the barrier; I could hear Erigor yell over the din, "It's useless! There's no way you'll ever be able to break through my magic sealing barrier. You see, it's one way only. If you try to escape, the wind will tear you apart." Erza yelled at him, "What is the meaning of this you scoundrel?!" He shook his head, "We've wasted enough time with you Fairy Tale flies! Now, if you will excuse me …" And with that, the man flew off into the air. "Come back here! Curse you, Erigor! I'll find a way to stop you!" She slammed a fist into the pillar near her, "So he wasn't targeting the station after all. Just what is he planning?" She was silent for a little bit, holding the shoulder that impacted the pillar first; I think she was thrown harder than I, judging by how fast she was pushed back in. Fortunately, I missed landing on her. She looked at the barrier and stated, "We _will_ stop you."


	12. Party Time

[Last updated: 09/17/18]

A little while later, Erza and I were back in the room where we fought the entire platoon of Eisenwald swordsman; at least it _seemed_ like a whole platoon, anyway. I was actually mildly surprised at the size of such an illegal guild. We were busy tying them up with rope that Erza pulled from out of nowhere, I assume through Requip. She was currently interrogating one of them who had regained consciousness on how to get through the barrier, and getting nowhere. Then, from one of the above hallways that opened up on one side to the room, stood Gray. He called out to her, prompting her to drop the man on the marble floor to lean against the wall. I tied him up as well. She looked up to Gray, "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Natsu!" He replied, "We decided to split up. Nevermind that now! Listen, I just found out that Eisenwald's real target is Clover, the next town up! Erigor's headed towards the conference as we speak! He's planning on using the Lullaby to kill the guildmasters!" A purple-pink miasma began to emanate from her (Although that might just have been me) as she picked up the man she had been questioning, adopted a frightful expression, and … _asked him nicely_ why he didn't tell her.

She spoke to Gray again, who had by now found his way down to us, "There's a problem, the station's surrounded by a barrier." Gray nodded with a serious expression, "Yeah, I know. I saw it earlier. If you try to break through that thing, it'll make mincemeat out of you." She rubbed her upper arm gently, "Yeah … I already tried that." He tilted his head as he surveyed her, "Woah, is your arm ok?" She closed her eyes and said, "That's not important. What _is_ , is getting out of here. We _must_ stop Erigor before he reaches the guildmaster's conference." She thought for a moment before opening her eyes again in recognition, "Wait a minute, I remember them talking about somebody called Kage back at the pub. We have to find that man, Gray. He was the one that broke Lullaby's seal!" Gray rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "A dispeller, huh? A seal breaking wizard … he can take down the wind barrier!" Erza nodded, "That's what I'm hoping, now let's get searching!" This whole 'seal' business was new to me, but I suppose it made sense; if this Kage could break the seal on the barrier surrounding us, then we needed to find him.

About ten minutes later, Erza, Gray, and I were running down a long hall when the whole building actually shook. We all stopped and turned in the direction of the disturbance. Gray wondered aloud, "Was that him?" Erza flatly said, "Yes." As we neared the room, I began to hear Natsu conversing with someone. Erza yelled, "Do not harm him! We need him alive!" As we were running, Gray surveyed the burns and scorch marks around all the damage done to the hall – I.E. large Natsu-shaped holes in the walls – we were going down and muttered, "Way to go, you fire freak!"

Erza rounded the corner to the door and raised a sword, I came up to the same corner and heard Natsu exclaim, "I don't know what I did but I'm sorry!", followed immediately by the peal of metal meeting stone. I came in a half-second later and saw Erza had swung her sword along the wall judging by the line in the stone, and stopped _just short_ of connecting with the neck of one of the enemy wizards – a young, leanly built man with black hair – that was centered in a large scorch mark on the wall; that must have been the source of the disturbance we felt a little bit ago. Erza had her face close to the enemy with a fierce expression and ordered crossly, "You _will_ dispel the barrier and you _will_ do so without complaint! UNDERSTOOD?!" Note to self: never piss this one off without a _really_ good reason. The man in question quivered as he looked at the sword a fraction of an inch from his neck, "Ok, fine! I'll dispel it!" Of course, nothing is ever that easy; a magic circle appeared on the middle of his chest as an arm came out of it. Pained, the man looked up and behind himself and asked, "Why, Kuraka?" before slumping to the side, revealing the man without a nose I saw earlier who was currently waist-deep in the wall. He was shaking … by his expression, I don't think he did it willingly. Gray spoke, "No! He was our only way out of here!"

Erza held the critically injured man, "No! Don't die! We need your help, do you hear me!" Gray shook his head, "I think we're losing him, Erza!" She shook him slightly, "You're the only one of us able to dispel the wind barrier, just hang on!" Natsu clenched a fist and asked the man in the wall, "How … how could you do that to one of your friends?!" He looked up at Natsu. Natsu flared up as flames fanned about him, "He was a member of your guild! He _trusted_ you and you tried to kill him!" Panicking, the man ducked back into the wall. "How could you?!" Natsu focused the flames around him to his fist and jumped at the wall the man just phased back into and punched through the wall, flinging him out of the wall and into the adjacent room. "Is _that_ how you dark guild members treat each other?!" I looked back and Erza and Gray were still kneeling over the man, her pleading him to stay with us. Gray, with a calm serious face said to her, "Erza, he's unconscious. It's just no use." Comically, she began slamming him into the floor with a frantic expression, "We can't let him die! He's our only way out of here!" Gray, put off by her action said, "But there's no way for him to use his magic in this condition!" Erza, still slamming, said forcibly, "If I _force_ him to he will!" I said, "Erza stop! You'll give him brain damage!"

We all eventually regrouped at the entrance of the station we originally came through and we filled in Lucy and Happy. Lucy exclaimed, "What?! Erigor wants to use Lullaby on the guildmasters?!" Natsu gritted his teeth in frustration, "Grr … we have to stop him!" I crossed my arms and stared at the closely focused winds blowing around the station about ten feet from us, "It's easier said than done, Natsu. Erigor cut off our only means of getting out of here, and is presumably headed there by air." Gray said, "I'm pretty sure we could catch up to him on the Magic Mobile. But … we can't do anything until we figure out how to get on the other side of this barrier!" Lucy turned to him, "How are we going to do that?" All of a sudden, Natsu ran forward and attacked the barrier directly with flames and was immediately thrown back, landing in a heap on the floor. And … for some reason, his butt was smoking.

Gray crossed his arms and shook his head at the sight, "See that's what happens if you try to bust through." Meanwhile, Erza was again kneeling over Kage, who had by now seen urgent medical attention. "Kage, wake up! You are our only hope right now! Natsu, got back up and readied flaming tornadoes around his arms and punctuated his next statement with a flurry of fiery attacks with every word. "We've gotta try to break through! We have to save Makarov!" On the last combo, the barrier activated with a bright light and sent him flying again, landing on his face. I winced in empathy. That must have hurt. Having had enough of it, Gray said in irritation, "Cut it out, you idiot! Obviously brute force isn't going to do you any good." Lucy gestured to the barrier and asked if Gray could try freezing it, or that perhaps Natsu could try melting it. He shook his head again. "If I could have, I'd have already done it by now." She then asked me if I could try using my Crash to break the spell itself. "I'm sorry, Lucy. I can't. I've barely trained with Requip magic; I haven't even touched the Crash magic yet." Well, at least not consciously anyway.

A second later, a flaming fireball ran past us and impacted the barrier again, Natsu. They yelled at Natsu again. Lucy yelled at him, "Would you stop trying to be the hero?! You're going to get torn to shreds!" Frustrated, a curse emanated from Erza, "Damn it! I don't know what to do!" Natsu was about to charge again when Lucy held him back by forcibly hugging him. Natsu rubbed his chin, "Crap!" He looked up and then back at Lucy (Who blushed briefly) "What? What's the matter?" Natsu exclaimed loudly in recognition and said that she could use her spirits. He said, "Back at Everlu's, I was pulled from one place to another by the Spirit World!" Cautiously, she nodded slowly, obviously unsure of where he was going with this, "Well, yeah! But normal people would suffocate to death if they tried that. It's hard to breathe in their world! Besides, a Celestial Wizard can only open a gate wherever they're standing." Natsu looked at her blankly and made a confused noise. She held up a finger, "Ok. Let me simplify this for you. Even if we _could_ pass through the Spirit World, we would need another Celestial Wizard to open a gate _outside_ the train station for us to pass through." Natsu scratched his head, "You're totally confusing me, just hurry up and do it!" She shook her head frantically at him, "But I _told_ you, I _can't_! Not to mention the very act of a Human entering the Spirit World is a _serious_ breach of contract! I didn't care when _you_ did it because it wasn't my key, it was Everlu's!" He sighed and said, "I don't get your magic at all."

Meanwhile, by now I had walked over to a wall, placed my back against it, and slid down it into a sitting position. Gray came and sat down with me and sighed at their discussion. In a low voice, I leaned towards him and asked, "So … is Natsu always like this?" He raised an eyebrow and gestured with his thumb back at Natsu, "What, him being all brawn and no brain? Yeah, pretty much." I then noticed that Happy slowly walked past us, his eyes wide in remembrance as he walked towards Lucy. "Everlu's key … hold on …" He screamed, we all jumped slightly in surprise. "I just remembered Lucy!" She pulled an arm back and asked the cat, "Remembered what?" He said that he remembered what he was trying to tell her on the way here. Happy said, "Look!" and held up a golden key, much like the ones Lucy had shown me before. Surprised, she yelled at happy, "How'd you get your paws on Virgo's key?! Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's wrong to steal things?" He defended himself by replying, "But I didn't steal it! Virgo asked me to give it to you!"

Gray stood up with a grunt and said, "Come on guys, we're wasting way too much of our time listening to this nonsense." Natsu cocked his head to one side and asked, "Who's Virgo? Oh! Wasn't she that big gorilla looking maid?" Happy nodded, "Apparently her contract with Everlu was broken as soon as he was arrested. Before we all left that day, she came up to me and said that she wanted to sign a new contract with _you_ , Lucy!" She held her head in her hand and said in mock joy, "Great. I get a big, ugly spirit. Anyway, thanks for letting me know, but I'll have to deal with her later. If you didn't realize it, we need to find a way out of here." He blinked a little, "But …" She cut him a look that stopped him short, "Why don't you just meow like every other cat?" Mira appeared in miniature on my shoulder and we shared a look before she disappeared again. _Damn, Lucy … that was harsh._ Saddened, he fell to the floor and began to trace a pattern into the ground with his paw, "I'm sorry. I just thought that since Virgo can drill holes, maybe she can dig through the ground to get us to the other side of the barrier …" That one took us all by surprise. We all said different variations of 'She can?!' All of a sudden, Lucy was all nice with Happy. She apologized profusely and he gave her the key.

She turned around and held the key out before her, "I call upon thee, in the world of the Celestial Spirits! And now, I beckon you to my side at once! Pass through the gate!" With a little fanfare, she slashed the key in the air the same way she had done with Taurus' key back when we were fighting for Macao. "Open! Gate of the maiden! Virgo!" The person summoned – Virgo – took the form of a maid with shackles around her wrists, short, pink hair, and had blue eyes. She wore a typical maid outfit draped around her petite frame, consisting of a black under coat and a white, frilled-trim apron. When she finished summoning Virgo, Lucy looked her at confusion. Virgo asked her, "You summoned, Mistress? What can I do for you?" Apparently, this was _not_ what she was expecting, because she asked her, "Who are you?"

Natsu walked up to her and initiated friendly conversation. "What's up, Berger? Man, you look great! You've lost some weight!" She smiled politely and replied, "My name's Virgo. I apologize for any trouble I might have caused you." Lucy's eye practically bulged out of her face as she said, "She didn't lose weight, Natsu!" Gray looked over to Lucy and asked, "What do you mean?" I nodded and looked over to her as well, "I'm going to have to agree with Gray here, Lucy. You guys have met before?" Lucy kept looking at Virgo in extreme confusion, "She's, like, an entirely different person!" Virgo smiled and looked over to Lucy and replied, "I'm a very loyal spirit who'll do anything to please her wizard. So, I try to take on whatever form my wizard will find most appealing." Natsu said, "I don't know … I kind of liked it when you were all big and tough looking." Virgo perked up at that, "Did you really? Well then …" Virgo glowed with yellow light and next thing I saw, she was of an extremely tall stature and overweight with a brutish face and two pony tails. She said in a very deep voice, "I can change back, if you want." Lucy freaked out, "Don't listen to him! I'm your wizard and I liked your other form better!" Virgo glowed again and reverted to her previous form, "As you like, Mistress."

As this was going on, I sighed and got up. I walked over to the group and said, "Guys … we really don't have time for this right now." Lucy looked over to me and blinked, before nodding. "He's right. I'm sorry, Virgo. I'm afraid we don't have time right now; can we work out the contract details later?" She nodded, "Of course. Whatever'd you'd like, Mistress." Lucy crossed her arms and turned slightly as she asked, "Do you _really_ have to keep calling me Mistress?" Virgo eyed Lucy's whip. "Would you prefer I called you 'Queen'?" She shook her head, "No." Virgo continued, "What about 'Princess'?" Lucy began twirling a lock of her hair around a finger as a smile spread across her face, "Yeah … that's more like it." Gray and Natsu were with me off to the side watching this; Gray said, "Princess? Yeah right." Natsu groaned and said, "Hurry it up, Ladies." At that, Virgo's eyes glowed red, "Yes sir." She placed an arm across her abdomen as she bowed slightly, while a yellow magic circle appearing on the ground beneath her. "Now then …" She burst through the ground with the sound of a jackhammer; fragments of ground were flying everywhere. Gray looked down the hole Virgo was making with an approving expression, "Oh wow! Look at her go!" Erza came near Lucy, "Nicely done, Lucy." She then slammed her face into her breastplate comically.

Gray stood before the hole cracking his knuckles, "Ok guys. It's about time we break out of this joint." I heard a slight scuffle behind us; we turned around to see Natsu with one of Kage's arms over a shoulder. Gray asked, "What do you think you're doing?" He replied, "I know he's one of our enemies, but I'd feel guilty if we just left him here to die." Kage opened an eye slightly at that. Erza's expression softened before she nodded.

Some crawling later, we emerged outside of the station with what looked like a large tornado contained around the building. The winds looked fierce enough to bar entry for anyone wanting inside – or indeed out. We had to shout above the winds to be heard. Gray said, "Looks like we made it out." Erza nodded, "Let's head towards Clover." I looked over and Lucy had to grasp hold of pieces of her clothing from blowing here and there from the winds. I sighed ever so slightly at the sight; modesty like that on the battlefield could get you killed. I mean, I understood to an extent why she acted like that, but still …

I barely heard Kage say, "It's no use. You'll never be able to catch up to Erigor. You can't stop us! We've won." We stared at the man before Erza looked around, "Where's Natsu?" Gray did the same, "Happy's not here either!" I didn't even notice them leave. They're sneaky; I'll give them that.

We found our vehicle and boarded it as Erza got back into the pilot's seat. She drove us at breakneck speed out of the town and onto tracks that lead over a massive gorge. I looked down; I couldn't see the bottom, a layer of clouds blocked my view at what seemed to be about a mile down. My attention was brought back into the cabin by Kage's voice. "So tell me … why are you taking me with you?" Lucy, who was sitting beside me replied, "Because you obviously need a doctor! And since everyone left town, you'll have to see one in Clover." She looked out the window briefly, "Try and show some gratitude." There was silence for a moment before he responded, "I don't understand. Why are you helping me? We're enemies. Oh, wait … I get it. You're taking me hostage so you can try and make a deal with Erigor." He chucked slightly, "Well you can forget it. He could care less about me or anyone else of his men." Lucy shook her head, "Jeese, lighten up, dude!"

Gray looked out of the window and replied to him, "If you want to die, we can make that happen." She looked over to him, "Chill, Gray." _Was … did she just pun?_ He looked over to Kage, "There's a whole lot more to this world than just life and death, you know." Kage raised an eyebrow at him, "You should try to look for the positives; you _and_ your Eisenwald pals."

All of a sudden, the vehicle hit something and everyone was thrown asunder inside the cabin. I looked out of one of the forward facing windows and shouted to Erza, "What happened?!" She shouted back, "It's ok, everything's fine now." Lucy was shouting something about her butt, but I was ignoring that for right now. I was more worried about Erza; I could tell by the fraction of her face I could see that that wasn't the truth. She looked strained and exhausted; I don't know how much more of this she could take. Determination and willpower can only take you so far.

We eventually pulled up to Natsu on the tracks just outside of the town of Clover. I noticed that what looked like Erigor's legs were poking out of a pile of rubble on the raised tracks, twitching every now and then. Lucy cried out Natsu's name to get his attention. "Hey! You guys just missed seeing me beat Erigor!" Happy shouted at little farther down the tracks from Natsu, "Aye!" Erza pulled up to him and shut the vehicle down. She weakly said, "I'm proud of you." Man, she looked in a bad way. She looked exhausted, tired, and weak in equal measure. Since she'd been driving us all this time, the vehicle (Which on closer inspection, seemed to run on magical energy drawn from the driver) must have drawn a prodigious amount of magic from her body, leaving her in this state. I got out and put an arm around my shoulder as I helped her down. Lucy asked, "You going to be ok, Erza?" She smiled to the girl, "Yes, I'll be fine; don't worry about me." I noted that after Kage got out, he surveyed the sight before us and gulped visibly.

Gray got out and went over to Natsu and crossed his arms at him, "I can't believe you had such a hard time with this guy!" Natsu raised an arm at that, "I never said that!" Gray looked at the state he was in, "You look pretty stupid wearing a scarf when you're half naked like that." He barked a laugh, "Like you have any room to talk!" He looked over to Lucy, "Hey Lucy! Give me your clothes!" She yelled at him, "In your dreams!" Erza laughed at that. "Anyway, well done Natsu. Thanks to you, all of the guildmasters will be safe now." We shared a pleasant moment. "While we're here, we should make sure to stop by the guildmasters conference to tell them what happened and ask them how we should properly dispose of the Lullaby flute." Happy said, "Might as well since we're so close to clover."

The section of the bridge we were on shook as the vehicle we came in gained shadowy wings and … flew … away. I was not expecting that; I still have yet to get used to this world. Erza shouted, "Kage!" Gray asked, "What are you doing?!" Indeed, Kage was in the driver's seat, with a shadowy appendage holding the flute while he piloted the craft away. It seems as if he took advantage of our momentary lapse of oversight. For him, it was actually a pretty smart move; a move I was kicking myself for not anticipating. _Of course_ he would still do anything in his power to get away, he was still an enemy! Rule number one was always: Never underestimate what your enemy would do in order to win.

He looked over the edge of the flying ground transport and said, "Lullaby's mine now! You shouldn't have let your guard down, flies!" He glided farther down the track and landed roughly back on the bridge on his way to Clover laughing manically all the way. We were in shock. Natsu was the first to recover, shouting, "That jerk!" Then Lucy, "This is how he repays us for saving his life?!" Erza hastily pointed a finger towards Clover, "After him!" I offered to help Erza to Clover, since she's brought us all the way here on her own power, and was now paying for it. She hastily declined and after fixing me with her chocolate brown eyes asked me, "Jai? How fast can Spartans run? I need you to go _as fast as you can_ and warn the guildmasters." I grinned at her. "You want me to run to Clover? Alright. I can do that." I got into a runner's stance, requipped the Speed Boost armor enhancement, and over the course of the next few seconds, my sense of time became stretched and elongated as I began to vibrate faster and faster, with an accompanying whine that rapidly increased in magnitude and pitch. I then took off like a rocket to Clover at high speed.

Clover town is a rather small town situated in a mountainous area, surrounded by dense forests. It is best known for the fact that it is the place where Masters of Legal Guilds are gathered to discuss their guilds. I raced from building to building once I made it into the town proper, looking for the guildmasters. I eventually narrowed it down to one building out on its own in a portion of the forest just outside of the town. I hastily knocked on the door and a few seconds later I heard footsteps and a man opened the door. I was met with the sight of an elderly, bald, and cross-dressed man. He was wearing a purple spaghetti-strap shirt accessorized by a gold and fuchsia hoop necklace, and a vertically-striped pair of pink and purple shorts. The look was completed with red lipstick and blush on each cheek. He had small, white wings that – if I've learned anything from my relatively short time here on Earthland – were probably capable of flight, albeit to a limited extent. One of the first things I learned of the man was that he spoke in a _very_ effeminate manner.

The man introduced himself as Bob and bade me welcome. He noticed my guildmark and my haste and asked what happened. I relayed all the information as I could in as timely a manner as I could. He looked shocked for a moment, and then he nodded. He told me Makarov was out of the building at the time and said I should go back and regroup with my team. I nodded and left. I eventually linked back up with the others, as well as various guildmasters. Apparently they had been on the other side of the door listening in on my explanation to the guildmaster and had made their way here before me using their magic; or so I assume. I looked to Erza and she nodded before putting a finger to her lips for me to be silent and pointed a finger down to hill into a small copse of trees where Makarov and Kage could be seen discussing. All of a sudden, Kage dropped the flute to the ground and kneeled before Makarov.

Erza exclaimed, "Master!" Natsu said, "You stopped him!" Gray said, "Good job, Gramps!" Makarov, who was confused, said, "What? Heh? How'd you kids end up in Clover?" Erza slammed his head into her breastplate, "Master, your words touched me so deeply I was almost moved to tears!" _So I guess we missed the show, huh._ Gray, (Without a shirt) said, "Well, it looks like we've gotten here just in time to see Gramps talk his way out of yet another one." He then looked over to me and gave me a thumbs-up, "Great work, dude." I nodded in thanks.

And once again, nothing is ever that easy. Lullaby's three eye sockets glowed with a pink-purple light as a black miasma began to flow from them. We heard a deep, booming, distorted laugh emanate from all around, " **I've grown** _ **tired**_ **of you cowardly wizards and your antics!** " It was then the presence of numerous royal guardsman made itself known as they worked their way out of the trees and into a clearing; above Clover appeared a very large purple magic circle. There was a wispy thick strand of black miasma coming down from the circle. " **I can no longer hold back! I shall come forth to devour you myself!** " It was then a large wooden leg came down onto the ground with a thunderous sound. And then another. The miasma solidified into a monstrous looking, extremely tall humanoid figure with three eyes. There appeared many cutouts in its wooden gently curving nature-esque body. It looked about twenty stories tall. " **I shall feast upon your pitiful souls!** " Lucy blinked at it, "It's so big!" Happy floated nearby, using his flight magic with a deadpan look on his face, "Way to state the obvious!" Kage asked, "What is that thing?! Erigor never said anything about a monster!" Bob, who had covered his mouth with a hand, said, "We're in a pickle." One of the guildmasters wearing a black wizards hat that had a collar of small spikes above the brim leaned against a tree and said, "It must be a demon from the book of Zeref." I could hear and see people all over Clover run around at the sight of the monstrous form looming above the town.

It looked down at us and grinned a gruesome smile. Lucy asked, "Why did the flute turn into a monster?!" The guildmaster answered her, "That's what Lullaby's true form looks in the flesh. It's a forbidden black magic called Living Magic; Zeref's specialty." Erza asked, "'Living Magic'?" Gray asked, "Who's Zeref? Wasn't he some ancient wizard?" Bob answered, "Zeref was the most evil wizard the world had ever known. He was very powerful in his day; but never in my wildest dreams I never thought his dark legacy would pop back up again." Lullaby put its large wooden hands on the ground to either side of us and leaned down using its arms to look at us better and said in its distorted, looming voice, " **Now then … which of these delectable souls will I dine on first?** " Natsu clenched his fists, "'Delectable', huh?" He then looked at Gray and excitedly asked him if he thought souls were really that tasty. He replied in annoyance, "How should I know what they taste like?" Lucy looked over to them and asked why they were always thinking about eating. Erza turned around to look at us, "Natsu and Gray! Get everyone to a safe place!" Natsu looked at her, "Quit barkin' orders!" Gray nodded, "Yeah! You're not the boss of us!" She had that glint to her eyes again, "Just _do_ it!" They complied toot sweet. Lucy sighed, "Another bad Happy impression."

I then heard a loud, magically enhanced voice emanate from the large gathering of soldiers that had mustered in the field not too far away. "No giant wooden demon is going to scare off the Fiore Army! Charge!" Then a thousand voices rose up at once, "Yes sir!" Lullaby changed stance to direct at them. " **You doubt my power?! I'll prove it to you!** " It leaned back and then forward, placing its head well before its body. It opened its mouth, formed a magic circle, and a ball of energy rapidly formed before streaking towards the voices in a flash. Some distance away from the field, a giant explosion erupted, forcing all but myself to cover their eyes. The first thing I saw was that one of the larger mountains near where the army was located was just … gone. They retreated. Lullaby laughed, " **I have no need for those pathetic humans! I prefer the taste of a wizard's soul over the taste of those soldiers!** " Natsu stepped forward confidently with a raised fist, "Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try! Bring it on, big guy!" I heard a chorus of voices of the gathered guildmasters wishing him good luck. _Looks like they're not going to be of any help. Great._

It was then Lullaby activated a large magic seal above him and roared loudly, causing everyone to hold their hands to their ears. Erza readied her swords as Gray and Natsu rushed forward. I spawned a DMR and shot Lullaby with a round imbued with Crash magic, cutting his roar short. I growled, "Shut up, you big pile of tinder! You're annoying me." When the smoke cleared, I saw that I had left a large hole in his hollow body. Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor again and went on the offensive as well. I peppered Lullaby with volley after volley of shots from my DMR. Gray used his ice magic, Erza her swords, and Natsu with his fire magic. He even managed to sucker punch Lullaby in the face, actually making it stumble back a step before it swung a massive arm back at Natsu, destroying the hill he was on in retaliation. "You're making me angry!" Lullaby roared again and looked to the sky. The magic seal above it disappeared and the trees around us turned brown and lost their foliage as the grass and flowers wilted around us; it was sucking the life out of the plants around us. " **Just one note and your souls will me mine!** " It took a pleased stance with its hands together, and a discordant noise sounded from its' body. It gasped audibly. " **I don't understand! Why can't I play my melody of death?!** " We quickly figured out that we punched so many holes in its body that we messed up its sound. The damn thing really _was_ just a giant flute.

I laughed and shouted up to Lullaby, "Talk about going out with a whimper, eh _Lullaby_!? Come on! You're _actually_ putting me to sleep over here!" It kicked at the ground at me, " **You dare mock me?!** " I nimbly jumped over its foot when it kicked at me and started climbing up its leg, ripping chunks out of it out as I go. "Yeah! I _dare_ to mock you! You're annoying me; plus, you haven't even properly attacked us _once_ yet! C'mon! Some "Demon Flute" you turned out to be. Is this all you are? Just a bunch of hot air?" He shook me off his leg, but not without me taking a _large_ strip of its bark with me. " **You're making me angry!** " He demolished a building with a giant foot. " **I will kill you all!** "

Meanwhile, Gray used his magic to make a large half-circle shield of ice on the ground to protect a group of people that Lullaby's attacks were dangerously close of. Natsu drew in the fires it had created as luminous ribbons, "Now I've got a fire in my belly!" That surprised it; it gawked at Natsu. " **You're not human! You're a monster!** " Natsu climbed up its arm when it punched at him. "Yeah, like you can talk!" Lullaby tried in vain to shake Natsu off, " **Hey! Stop climbing on me!** " Meanwhile, Erza requipped into an armor called Black Winged armor. This armor is black with silver trimming that has silver crosses in several places. It has a revealing silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reach down to her waist-guard. The waist-guard leaves the front of Erza's body exposed, with her groin being covered by what looked like a bikini bottom. She also had large plates guarding her legs. She has two wings that have black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure, but the parts used to fly are composed of a membrane-like material with her hair is tied in a ponytail. She requipped a sword that was themed to match her armor. I looked at Erza's armor approvingly. 'I think I found a new favorite of her armors so far.' Mira giggled at that. _Gee … I wonder why …_

Gray put his hands together and produced a spinning sawblade-like ice attack whose name I didn't catch, and aimed it at Lullaby's midsection. While it was caught off-guard, Erza flew in and sliced at its' cheek, throwing it off-balance. We all told Natsu (Who was primed and in position to attack), "Natsu! Do it now!" He punched his fists together to generate a fiery magic circle, "I've got this!" He stood with his arms out parallel, forming a 'T' and grew large balls of fire in them. "With flames of my right hand! And the flames of my left! Put the two together … " He slammed the two hands together, resulting in a large fireball that was more than double their original size, held it above his head and fed it, " … and this is what you get! Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" He jumped high into the air, summersaulted a little before he aimed and threw it at Lullaby with incredible force. It sent Lullaby on its back and a beam of white light shone from it as it exploded, piercing the heavy clouds above. The flute clacked to the ground. The glow in its eyes faded, and deep cracks formed all around the face of its three-eyed skull.

The guildmasters drew near. Makarov placed his hands behind himself and said, "Well done." Bob said we were amazing. "You kids made defeating Zeref's demon look easy." It was the man from before, the one with the spiked collar on his hat; I believe his name was Goldmine, but I may be mistaken. Kage came near and sat down roughly and said to Lucy, "I can't believe how strong they are! Wow! Are all Fairy Tail wizards as powerful as these guys?!" Lucy nodded happily, "There's no doubt about it! This _is_ the strongest team!" Happy jumped in the air excitedly, "Aye!" Makarov neared, "Yeah, we are an awesome guild, aren't we?"

Goldmine talked how they might want to give thanks to the Fairy Tail guild, but directed everyone's attention to a large hole in the ground where the guildmaster's meeting _used_ to take place and said we might have gone a little overboard. That surprised me, and Makarov just screamed theatrically and fell to the ground at the sight. Natsu laughed, "Yeah, we made a mess of the place, huh?" We picked up Makarov and made our way back towards Magnolia.

 **[So, that was a boss fight. Also, Jai and the others might be on some kind of watchlist now … Perhaps.]**


	13. Hunger

[Last updated: 09/17/18]

A small while later, I found myself walking along with the others following Happy until we came to a cliff with a sheer drop off. It had been some time since any of us ate last, and as such we were complaining about the lack of food. (Especially Lucy and Natsu) We were following Happy back to Magnolia because he said he knew where he was going; that was quite a few hours ago, and has since led us from one cliff to another somewhat aimlessly. We would have merely ridden a train back to Magnolia, but … with the station in Onibus out of action for what would probably be a while, no trains were scheduled to come back this way for quite some time. As such, we were forced to take the _long_ way home by walking through Clover Canyon _far_ below the tracks we had previously ridden over.

According to the maps I scanned a while back, this area hidden deep below Clover Canyon was called Web Valley. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get any detailed maps of the area; although looking at it now, I doubt they exist yet. Every now and then, I scanned the ground around me in high intensity bursts in an effort to learn of its makeup as well as to generate a map of where I've been as I walk. As far as Mira and I can tell, the countless fissures that crisscrossed the ground for miles around were produced by many ancient earthquakes; as a result, these fissures produced a fearsome natural maze. I wouldn't be surprised if we came across a corpse of some long forgotten adventurer decorating the landscape with their bones.

Gray and Natsu started quarreling from the hunger, before Makarov broke them up, and then moaned a complaint of how hungry he was. I shook my head, "If you guys have energy to fight and complain, you have energy to walk. At this point, we have to think of conserving as much energy as we can, which means _no fighting_. Got that? I want us to survive this trek through this canyon chain long enough so we can tell of it." They looked over to me for a moment, then went back to fighting. I sighed roughly and cast a pleading look over to Erza. She closed her eyes and growled, "ENOUGH!" Although that wasn't the only thing that growled loudly, as her stomach did its best impression of a tiger to express its need for food. Gray and Natsu sidled up to each side of her with a small smile, "Your stomach is trying to tell ya something, isn't it?" She crossed her arms defiantly and stated crossly, "No it's not! You're hearing things." Gray pursed his lips and nodded, "Yeah, _real_ convincing, Erza."

All of a sudden, happy gasped and ran to the edge a cliff and skidded to a stop looking over the edge. Natsu came up to him and asked, "What are you so excited about?" Happy pointed down the cliff face insistently, jumping in excitement, "Down there! Look, Natsu, look!" My curiosity piqued, I came over to where the others had gathered only to hear … singing? I couldn't stop staring when I looked over the cliff; there appeared to be some manner of fish, although they each had a pair of brilliant yellow wings sprouting from their mid-section which enabled flight. Weird. They also had full pink lips that were open in song; it was safe to say they were the source of the singing. Happy continued, "Those are Wing Fish! They are a legendary delicacy! And, they are _super_ yummy from what I hear!"

Gray raised an eyebrow, "A legendary delicacy?" Erza, who had closed her eyes and was pinching the bridge of her nose said, "Wing fish, huh?" Meanwhile, Natsu was on the other side of the group rubbing his hands together feverishly, "Sounds good to me!" Makarov came up to Happy and placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded before dramatically saying, "Well done, Happy! You make this old man proud!" As they both made their statements, their stomachs grumbled hungrily. Perplexed, Lucy said, "You guys! Enough with the growling stomachs!" Just before her stomach growled. Gray gained a bemused glint in his eye and said, "You were saying?" She locked a gaze at him, "Shut. Up." Happy, meanwhile, had been rooting about in the small sack he always had on his back and wielded a wooden fishing pole, "Now! Time to fish!"

A little while later the others were sitting on the cliff edge with fishing poles dangling down below. "Aw c'mon you stupid fish, just shut up and let me eat you!" It was Natsu, of course. Happy looked over to them with a fierce expression, "You gotta fish harder you guys!" Lucy looked at the fish questioningly and asked, "I don't know you guys … do you really think these fish taste that good?" Erza, who was completely focused on the task said, "Be quiet and fish! Anything edible will do." She looked over to the woman with a start, "I didn't know you were _that_ hungry!" Things went on in such a manner for a little while until Happy gave up and set his pole down, "Whatever. I give up." Lucy came up to him and kneeled down to look at him, "That was fast!" Happy looked down sadly, "I couldn't catch a single fish!" Lucy smiled kindly at him, "You really want to eat one, don't you? You shouldn't give up so easily. You can do it, little guy!" Happy looked up to her and ran away, crying into his elbow, "I'm not _that_ little!" Taken aback, she said, "What?! I thought I was cheering you up!" _Apparently not._

I meanwhile, was sitting on a nearby rock watching this transpire with my chin resting in my hand. I sighed again and stood up, "You guys want the weird fish, huh?" I walked over to the edge of the cliff, requipped a Magnum, and quickly shot down a good number of fish. I flew down with my jetpack and stored them using requip before returning and dumping them in a pile before them. Surprised, they all looked at me for a moment and blinked. Erza broke into a hearty laugh, "Why didn't _I_ think of that?" Lucy yelled at me, "Why didn't you do that sooner?!" I rubbed the back of my head, "Sorry, you guys were so determined to get the fish that I didn't want to interrupt."

Happy took a few for himself before they were cooked, as he ate fish raw being a cat. (Or so I assumed; for all I knew, he just liked the taste of a whole raw fish) Natsu looked around at us and rubbed his hands together in anticipation, "So … you guys want me to cook these, or what?" We all agreed on it and he cooked them with his magic. I requipped my helmet off and sat down with the others; I noticed Makarov look over to me and do a subtle double take. We each took a bite of the fish. We all stiffened and shuddered dramatically in reaction to the taste. I almost gagged and swallowed my mouthful with some difficulty as I asked Happy, "A delicacy, huh? Are you _sure_ about that?" He looked thoughtfully up at me, "Well, that's what the flier said anyway." I nodded thinking, "So if you saw a flier, doesn't that mean they are worth something?" He thought before nodding, "Yeah, I think it said thirty thousand Jewel for about twenty of them." Ugh, this again. First thing I'm doing when we get back to the guild is hitting the books. No further distractions.

We each forced as much of the fish down as we could. Before we made our way off, I gathered about forty more of the fish and stored them. (It was a rather large grouping of the creatures; I doubt the number we took would be noticed) "I hope they keep." I looked over to Erza questioningly, as she had heard that. She shrugged and answered the implied question with an intrigued expression, "I don't really know; I've never actually tried to store anything other than weapons and armor before. This will be a learning experience for me as well."

I requipped my helmet back on and was about to begin walking with the others before she stopped me with an arm, "And Jai? Thanks for the fish. They may have had a … _unique_ taste, but it was food. Thankyou." I nodded and grinned honestly at her, "No problem, Erza. I can't have you guys go and starve on me like that; I like you all too much." She smiled and turned away from me. As she did, I thought I saw her blush ever so slightly. I polarized my visor and began walking after my friends.

Later that day, we were walking down a desert path on what I hoped were the outskirts of the Web Valley. We were all getting really hungry again when the path took a turn. We turned a rocky corner and saw telltale signs of buildings. Erza exclaimed, "A village!" Gray gasped, "Houses?!" Happy said, "And that means there must be …" We all looked at each other before running towards the settlement, "FOOD!"

We all ran into the center of the village, stone buildings and roadways all around … but something was off; there weren't any people. Anywhere. I wandered aimlessly for a bit, nervously looking for anyone. I was getting some bad flashbacks of New Phoenix. Gray voiced what I was thinking. We all fanned out, looking around. Lucy took a few steps to the side, listening. "It does seem awfully quiet, doesn't it?" I heard Natsu comment, "Maybe they are all taking a nap, or something?" He started walking with Happy down one of the roads, "HEY! Anybody here?!" Happy yelled, "We're starving like crazy out here! SOMEBODY COOK US SOME DINNER!" Lucy yelled from nearby, "Wow Happy, ever hear of the word 'please'?"

We all regrouped in the central plaza we all came in on. Gray looked over to Natsu, "You really think everyone's taking a nap?" Makarov shrugged, "It's either that, or they all got drunk and passed out." Lucy replied, "I think that only happens at the guild." Makarov barked a laugh at that, "We _do_ love our spirits, don't we?" All of a sudden, Natsu took off at a sprint, "You guys can hang out here all day if you want, but I'm going to find a kitchen to raid!" Gray took off after him, quickly closing in on him, "Shame on you for even thinking about robbing this place, Natsu!" He retorted, "You're just mad I thought of it first!" I sighed at them, "It's almost like their stomachs replace their brains when they get hungry, isn't it?" Erza, who had her face buried in a hand at the two of them replied, "We might as well go after them before they get us into trouble." We came up to them right as Natsu was picking up a hot roll to eat. I looked closer at the table before them: there was a large basket of steaming rolls set out, a small bowl of what looked like butter, and mid-sized earthenware mugs of some kind of steaming white liquid … possibly tea of some kind.

Erza came beside him, "Not so fast." Annoyed, he said, "What is it now!?" She looked at him, "There's something strange here." Gray set down his roll and looked critically at the table also, "She's right. Who would leave a table of food just sitting there like that? And … if somebody cooked this, then where the heck are they now?" Natsu shrugged, "How should I know?" He smiled back at Happy, who also had a roll with him, "You ready to dig in, Happy?" He nodded vigorously, "Aye!" Erza drew up to him with a glint to her eyes, "NATSU!" He shrunk back slightly, "HOLY … Yes mam?" She began to look around the room, "We need to investigate the village first. If we've held out this long, we can hold out –" She was interrupted by her stomach growling loudly. Lucy, bemused, said, "I think your stomach may have different plans." Makarov made a sound of agreement, "Yes, but which one do we listen to?" She cast an arm wide and said as her stomach continued to growl loudly, "Search the area for mushrooms or anything that looks edible. And don't eat the food in the village, ok? While you're out doing that, Master and I will try to figure out what's going on." Natsu began to walk away slowly, "Yeah, yeah. I hear ya. Let's go Happy." He tiredly replied, "Aye." On my way out, I heard Lucy mutter, "Wait … why mushrooms?"

We found a forest microbiome not too far away from the village, absolutely _teeming_ with all sorts of mushrooms in every shape, size, and coloration imaginable. I split off from the group as I tried to recall my forest survival training; specifically which types of mushrooms were edible and which weren't. However, that quickly proved inadequate as I recognized _none_ of the mushrooms here; not to mention that their coloration seemed not to follow any obvious pattern. I sighed and began picking mushrooms at random and storing them via requip. Perhaps we could test these at a later date to see if they're poisonous or something.

I got as much as I thought I should get and made my way back to the village, head full of thoughts of mushrooms. I picked up a low, rising growl coming from the village and broke into a full sprint, mushrooms forgotten. "ERZA! MAKAROV! NATSU! GRAY! CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME?!" I skidded to a stop back in the plaza we first entered into and saw a seam in the ground begin to glow red. The effect soon spread to the nearby buildings before they began to shimmer like heat waves off tarmac on a hot day. It soon spread to all the buildings within sight; with the village literally crawling with movement, it was setting my motion tracker into a tizzy.

I saw all of them run down a nearby street on their way out of the village, and by the expressions on their faces, they weren't jogging for fun. Happy flew my way and gestured towards where the others were running, "C'mon Jai! We need to go to higher ground!" I nodded, "Roger that." I requipped my jet pack and flew after Happy. (Who I noticed, had what looked like a mushroom growing out of his head between his ears) I met the others at the top of a nearby cliff overlooking the village. I watched as the effect I witnessed spread to the entirety of the village, every object I saw within the village gained life and transformed into large serpentine monsters. I looked below them to see a large red-white magic circle.

Aghast, Natsu commented, "Aw man! Looks like we got out just in time!" Erza nodded, "Now I see. It was a magic circle." Makarov looked over what had become of the village, "Yes, that's right. Those lines we saw in the village were carved into the ground to form a massive magic circle; a circle used for a type of magic that was banned many years ago. It was a form of sealing magic that was known as Alive." Lucy put a hand to her mouth briefly, "What does it do?" Makarov gestured around, "See for yourself. It's _exactly_ what it looks like. It has the ability to turn inanimate objects into living creatures. It appears the villagers cast the forbidden spell only to end up being _eaten_ by the very monsters they brought to life." Lucy asked, "But why would they use a magic that was banned?" Erza replied, "This village … was home to a Dark Guild!" Natsu looked to her in surprise, "No way!" She continued, "While investigating, I came across a large collection of magic tools tucked away in a shed. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were tools used to practice black magic." Makarov got out a teacher finger, "Knowing how reckless dark guilds can be, they probably thought up some crazy plan and wound up getting burned in the process. BUT!" He crossed his arms, "There's one thing that we should be grateful for …" Natsu looked at him with a questioning look, "Oh yeah? And what would that be?" Makarov gained a serious expression on his face, "The dark guild's mischief brought these creatures to life, and most living creatures can be turned into … FOOD!" The rest of us got ready for combat. I got out my DMR and armed it, "Let's put these monsters to rest."

Erza raced head first down the cliff face as Happy, Gray, Natsu, and I jumped off the cliff into battle, leaving Lucy behind in shock. Makarov jumped a little behind us, "Leave some for me!" We each used our respective magics against the monsters: Natsu with his fire, Gray with his ice, and Erza cut her foes into a mountainous pile of cubed sticks the size of pieces of chalk with her requip; also, she requipped into a form-fitting chef's uniform which I had to ignore for the time being. (Happy meanwhile, fought a sentient chair) After blasting my enemies to pieces, I walked up to Lucy and Erza; they were admiring Erza's handiwork. Erza tried to get Lucy to eat one; she refused. Erza sighed, "Fine. I'll do it." Lucy berated Erza for trying to use her as her Guinea pig. _So, they have Guinea pigs here? Or is that just a common phrase?_ 'I … I have no idea.' I asked Erza if I could try one as well, she nodded at me, "Of course!" I picked one up and bit into it; not only did it have the dimensions of chalk, but it tasted like it as well. After asking how it went, Erza gave what remained of her piece to Lucy. I shook my head at the pile of the stuff before me, "I, uh, don't think this is meant to be consumed in this way Erza." She crossed her arms and nodded at my assessment, "True, I would hardly call this edible."

We regrouped. Erza asked, "What are we going to do now? I'd rather starve than eat more of that stuff." Gray put his hands in his pockets, "I guess that's what we get for trying to cook up a bunch of monsters." Natsu made a noise of disgust, "Man! This sucks. All that barbecuing made me even hungrier than before!" It was then one of the serpentine creatures reared up behind Happy, only to be tackled by a flaming Natsu. I looked around and saw that the monsters were back at full strength.

Gray shook his head at the sight before us, "Man these things are nasty!" Erza pursed her lips and nodded, "In more ways than one." Natsu readied his magic, "I'm going to blow you to pieces!" He leapt at the creature and used an attack he called Fire Dragon's Wing Attack. Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor again and Gray used an Ice Wall attack. I readied my DMR and sighed, "I guess we should get back to work, huh?" Lucy yelled she wanted to help and summoned Taurus.

Between our combined attacks, our foes never stood a chance; however they regenerated as fast as we could cut them down. We fell back into a defensive circle formation atop one of the rocky outcroppings that remained of the village. The ground below us began to glow bright red. Lucy asked, "Great! What now?!" Gray looked down, alarmed, "It's the magic circle!" Erza looked around, "This is bad." The monsters that had been writhing all around us before began to sink into the ground. The spit of land we were standing on began to crack with pink light quickly, Erza yelled, "Run for it!" The ground underneath us broke up and we fell down towards the circle before a bright light came from Makarov. I can only assume he used his magic to save us. Somehow.

The next thing I knew, we were standing outside the remains of the village in a rocky clearing before a large gathering of people who were wearing full cloaks of different colors. I assumed they were the inhabitants of the village.

One of the first to get their bearings, Natsu saw them and said, "Now spill it! What were you trying to pull?" A woman came up to us and pulled her hood down and said, "We _were_ using the magic circle to cast forbidden spells, but those monsters appeared and took over everyone in town." Erza said, "So, the monsters we fought … you were all trapped inside of them?" A man with what looked like a small palm tree growing from his head stepped forward, "When you stepped into the circle, it activated the spell and we no longer had any control of ourselves."

Makarov placed his hands behind himself and said, "Well you won't have to worry about that happening again." That caused the villagers to step back slightly in surprise. Natsu asked him what he meant by that. Makarov raised a finger to the sky, "There's no need to sweat the details, my boy." He then pointed it at the villagers, "Now … as for all you villagers, you should be grateful someone came along to free you of your possession! I assume you've learned your lesson from this gross misuse of magic, and as long as it doesn't happen again I won't report you to the council." He stepped forward with a stern expression towards the villagers, "Is that a deal?" The woman nodded, "Yes! Of course. We never want to go through that again. Thank you _so_ much." The palm tree headed man actually bowed in a show of respect, "You have our word."

A while later, we were walking along the trail towards Magnolia talking about what happened. Erza said, "When we finally defeated the monsters, it seemed to activate some kind of self-destruction spell within the magic circle … and that's when _you_ came in." She was talking about Makarov now. "In the blink of an eye, you saved us, freed the dark guild from the takeover spell, and destroyed the magic circle before it flattened the village and everyone in it. How did you do it?" Makarov placed his hands back behind his head in a relaxed manner as he walked, "I'll have to tell you someday."

 **[Well, this looks like a natural place to stop here for now. Short and sweet.]**


End file.
